


Spellbound Sacrifice: The Black Rose (Book 2)

by Queen_Frost_Bite



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark Magic, F/M, Forbidden Forest, Forbidden Love, Lust, Time Travel, Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-03-25 22:23:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3827152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Frost_Bite/pseuds/Queen_Frost_Bite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione is changing, however there are many of those out there who would like to take advantage of the new force growing within her.</p>
<p>But when she joins Voldemort, with his promise to tell her the truth about what happened to her Grandmother and why she should not trust Dumbledore, did she make the right decision?</p>
<p>And can anyone control the force that wants to be unleashed from it's powerful vessel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

** Chapter 1 – The Secret Manor **

 

Clinging onto Draco's swirling vapour as he slithered and smoked his way through the English landscape, Hermione felt a mixture of emotions as she travelled to Malfoy Manor on the 'Death Eaters Express'.

  
  
Following Voldemort as he raced forward, Hermione felt the pain of her body trying to regain its solid mass as it fought against feelings of excitement, unadulterated freedom, taboo yearning and a curiosity of the unknown. 

  
  
Her new gassy nature rubbed, mixed and blended with Draco's as his exhilarated face flashed in and out of her sight, giving their journey a much more sensual purpose,

  
  
"We're here" Draco's voice boomed around Hermione's head as the green landscape evaporated and made way for a new darkly lit domain.

  
  
Within minutes they came to an abrupt halt and Hermione patted herself down to ensure all her limbs were back to normal,

  
  
"What is she doing here?" A female voice shrieked from behind Voldemort as he raised his hands to calm the disturbed woman.

  
  
Hermione examined her surroundings as more curious residents of the Manor entered the reception area and regarded her with intent.

 

Hermione was always intrigued at how the 'privileged Draco' grew up but this was not what she imagined.

 

As she walked around the room, ignoring the intimidating stares and whispers, she examined the gothic interior design with interest.

 

A black and grey colour scheme dominated the space as the only stream of light, that gave life to the room, came from outside as the sunlight struggled to get through the heavy black and red velvet curtains that suffocated the grand Victorian arched windows.

 

Pictures of previous Malfoy family members decorated the walls on either side of the reception, in their elaborate gilded frames, each person with more deadly determination in their glare,

 

"Take her to the basement then" the hidden woman continued to argue as Voldemort chuckled at her fury and stepped to one side. 

 

The reeling woman came into Hermione's vision as she quickly raised her wand, ready to defend herself against the crazed follower of Voldemort,

 

"Hermione Granger at the Manor. Do you really think you will survive one night here?" She cackled as she launched at the nervous witch.

 

Voldemort held his hand up to gesture Draco to stay back as the crowd watched on, firmly warned not to intervene by their leader.

 

Hermione stood strong as she looked around for all possible exits.

 

There were none.

 

"I should have done this years ago!" The demented woman continued as she flew into the air with her arms flailing like a screeching Banshee, ready to do harm to her arch nemesis. 

 

Hermione knew she had no other option but to defend herself as she raised her wand and pointed it firmly at the erratic woman,

 

"Well now's your chance Bellatrix" Hermione coolly replied as she threw her wand towards the ruthless Death Eater and screamed,

 

" _Confringo_ "

 

A vicious orange bolt fired straight into Bellatrix's chest as Hermione slowly walked towards her target. Her wand refused to let her enemy escape, pinning Bellatrix to the wall as her stomach began to slowly melt away,

 

"Arrrgh make it stop" Bellatrix screamed as she looked around the room for help,

 

"I could blast you into oblivion or I could use you for your help. The choice is yours? And don't try getting away as I have full control now" Hermione firmly stated as the other Voldemort followers gasped and took a step backwards, fixated on the poised witch.

 

Unaware of her changing demeanour, Draco stepped forward and pointed his shaky finger towards a mirror to the side of his lover.

  
  
As Hermione looked at her reflection, the witch staring back at her caused her to lose focus,

  
  
"It's back again" she gasped as she regarded the black misty barrier with intrigue,

  
  
"Do you know what is happening to you?" Voldemort asked as he cautiously approached the admiring witch.

  
  
Obsessed with her fluctuating reflection, she ignored Voldemort as he crept closer,

  
  
"Your changing! Evolving into the real you! The one who cannot be contained! The one who can no longer go unappreciated"

  
  
He stood behind the gloomy sphere with trepidation and smiled alluringly at the transfixed witch in the mirror,

  
  
"The one who deserves to know the truth!" He concluded as Hermione looked back at the Dark Lord and faced his grimacing expression without fear,

  
  
"Show me the truth" she replied coolly as she looked over at Bellatrix on the floor in distress and concluded,

  
  
"But no tricks or I will finish the job Harry didn't manage to complete" she casually stated as Voldemort let out a grimacing laugh before ordering Draco to take Hermione to the Master Bedroom to rest.

  
  
Bellatrix dragged her injured body across the floor, towards her leader, as the others came out of the shadows, now the threat had gone, eager to hear more about Voldemort's plan for the new visitor,

  
  
"I felt her power and you cannot control her! She will destroy you if she finds out" Bellatrix stammered, holding her stomach, as the gaping hole Hermione made slowly began to heal itself.

  
  
Voldemort pointed his long wand at his concerned follower and pressed it against her chest.

  
  
A warm yellow glow slithered from the long stick as it wormed its way into Bellatrix's body to help speed up the healing process,

  
  
"As long as she stays away from the east wing, the plan will continue without problems" Voldemort replied as Bellatrix stood up and walked with her leader as she escorted him upstairs,

  
  
"And if she finds the room, my lord?" Bellatrix whispered, dubious of her leader’s optimism. 

  
  
They reached the second floor as they keenly observed Hermione's new sleeping quarters,

  
  
"Then we will all fall" he gloomily replied as Bellatrix shot a look of panic at the Dark Lord's ultimatum, as she realised she would have to tread carefully around Hermione, knowing that she unwittingly held all the power now.


	2. Chapter 2 – There’s No Smoke Without Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione is now at Malfoy Manor with Draco, Voldemort and the other Death Eaters but how long will she be able to go unnoticed from Hogwarts and what will she find on her tour of the sinister building?

** Chapter 2 – There’s No Smoke Without Fire **

 

The large space radiated bewitching hysteria as Hermione cautiously admired the seductively dark bedroom.

  
  
With a similar forlorn colour scheme throughout the elaborate building, Hermione brushed her hand against the glamorous black velvet patterned, crimson wallpaper as the wall rippled on her electric touch,

  
  
"What was that?" She gasped as she quickly whipped her hand back, witnessing the white static sparks that followed her touch before the wall returned to its solid state.

  
  
Draco smiled at the evolving witch as he walked up behind her and caressed her back with desire,

  
  
"It's just welcoming you home. Like a purring cat, happy its owner is showing it attention, the manor is showing its devotion to you" he replied as he kissed her neck longingly.

  
  
His tender kisses eased away the tension from her alert body as she welcomed his nuzzles by bending her head back in acceptance before he guided her to the king sized Victorian mahogany bed.

  
  
Draco flung Hermione around to face him before grabbing her shoulders and pushing her onto the soft mattress with craving,

  
  
"Now let me welcome you properly" He whispered as he climbed onto of the smirking witch as she laid back and greeted her lover’s tender embrace.

  
  
Hermione began to tear his clothes off as he followed his eager lover and started to remove her top.

  
  
The roaring fire in front of the sturdy bed seductively distracted Hermione's concentration as the dancing flames taunted the witch's fragile mind,

  
  
"Did you see that?" She screeched as she bolted up right and regarded the fire with panic.

  
  
Set in its black Victorian iron prison, the flames rose and fell on command as silhouettes of Harry's, Dumbledore's and McGonagall’s faces flickered in and out of sight before them.

  
  
Draco immediately jumped off the bed and grabbed the fire stoke with surprise,

  
  
"I was wondering when they would try to find you! Took a little longer than I expected though" he deduced as he viciously poked at the burning wood with determination, distinguishing any more surprise appearances from the Hogwarts rescuers,

  
  
"They know where I am" Hermione mouthed as she redressed herself and got off the bed as she looked out the large arched stained glass window with guilt.

  
  
Draco could see a slight shift in the previously confident witch's demeanour as he walked over to join his confused lover at the window,

  
  
"What is happening to me, Draco?" Hermione whispered as she stared blankly at her reflection unsure of the woman staring back at her.

  
  
Draco started massaging her tense shoulders as he tried to relax the torn witch,

   
  
"You are becoming who you are truly supposed to be. You have always looked after others, cleaned up after Harry and Ron and put other people’s hopes and dreams before your own but when do you start to think of yourself and your own needs? It was your need for freedom, for your own passions and to release the real 'inner you' that brought us to this point and I'm glad you finally made it" Draco tried as Hermione shook her head in disarray. 

  
  
She began to rub her temples and squeezed her eyes tightly shut as his words rattled around her murky mind,

  
  
"Everything is so different! I don't feel like I'm myself anymore! I have no more control! I feel like I am cowering in the corner watching this deadly mass take over the room and any second now it’s going to suffocate me and take over forever!" Hermione panted as she began to hyperventilate as she struggled to gain control of her thoughts. 

  
  
Draco turned his flushed lover towards himself and began stroke her face.

  
  
Hermione flinched away as his touch encouraged the uncontrollable urges of unadulterated desire and power to resurface,

  
  
"Let it go! What are you afraid of? You are here with me now. You never need to restrict yourself again!" Draco promised as her kissed her quivering lips.

  
  
Hermione embraced his kiss as his touch stimulated the darkness inside to boil and bubble throughout the unbalanced witch's veins,

  
  
"It’s so seductive! It screams for constant power until my ears bleed and will not stop until it gets it! It knows nothing of boundaries or restrictions and will tempt me in any way possible to release my inner desires without fear. It's beginning to make me enjoy feeling so free and out of control but I can't -" Hermione panted erratically as her veins began to ripple with excitement.

  
  
Draco continued to encourage Hermione to embrace this new force as he held her head in his hands and softly kissed her closed eyes, one by one cautiously,

  
  
"You can! Trust yourself! Trust me!" He stated as he continued to cover the rest of her face with butterfly kisses.

  
  
Small white sparks began to shoot from Hermione's body as she embraced Draco's affectionate kisses and looked up to the ceiling to see the room take on a life of its own.

  
  
The ostentatious black crystal chandelier began to shake as it started to sway from side to side, inciting the other lamp lights in the room to start to flicker on and off as the walls returned to their rippling state,

  
  
"The ceiling!" Hermione gasped as Draco smiled with knowing,

  
  
"Can you now see how powerful you are?" He replied as he held onto the shocked witch and guided her around the animated room for further examination.

   
  
Hermione looked at the altering room in awe as it connected with her energy and radiated her inner emotions,

  
  
"Am I doing this?" She panted as the furniture began to spin and dip, unable to stay upright on the rippling motion being created by the yielding wooden floor.

  
  
Draco nodded proudly as he looked up to the ceiling and pointed at the alluring new sight above.

  
  
The plain white plaster swirled and morphed into shadowy figures as they seductively merged and entwined with each other, reaching out for Hermione's touch.

  
  
Familiar faces from Hermione's past slithered and snaked around each other as they tormented the overwhelmed witch's mind,

  
  
"Mum! Dad!" Hermione yelled as they morphed in and out of the pulsating plaster mass, teasing her as she attempted to reach out and release them.

  
  
The room began to vibrate as the flashbacks of previous loved one's rocked Hermione's emotions.

  
  
Furniture rose from the new uneven flooring as the silhouettes above frantically disappeared into a forming vortex that began to suck in all the elements from the animated bedroom,

  
  
"Hermione Stop!" Draco screamed as he struggled to hold onto the bed pole to avoid being sucked into the vicious tornado overhead.

  
  
Tears fell from Hermione's new black eyes as she held her head in distress, unsure what to believe anymore,

  
  
"Ever since I put the spell on my parents, I have never felt so alone. I have just floated through the last ten years, with nothing, not knowing where I belonged" she cried as larger sparks flew from her body erratically and blasted the floating furniture into sawdust as the darkness began to consume the plagued witch.

  
  
Draco ducked and screeched as the sharp white bolts of lightning singed his body and cloak,

  
  
"Hermione I can help you get them back but you need to stop this now!" He yelled as the walls lost their structure and started to crumble and cave in.

  
  
Hermione levitated from the trembling floor as the other residences of the manor ran to scene and watched from the side-line in trepidation,

  
  
"You cannot help me! No one can now!" She muttered as Draco bravely pulled himself towards his tormented lover on the remaining pieces of floating furniture and attempted to hold onto her floating frame.

  
  
He negotiated his way around the expelling bolts and tightly grabbed onto the uncontrollable witch.

  
  
Wrapping himself around her electrical body, Draco took every bolt of lightning and electrical charge as Hermione struggled to get free,

  
  
"Stop it! Let me go! I don't want to hurt you but I will if you don't let go" Hermione screeched as Voldemort smiled with glee at her developing dark side.

  
  
Pieces of Draco's face took the full extent of Hermione's electrical state as pieces of his skin began to dissolve away from the close impact.

  
  
She looked at her dissolving lover in confusion as he refused to let go,

  
  
"I will kill you if you don't let go!" Hermione cried as he wrapped his arm around her waist tighter and placed her head in his shoulder lovingly,

  
  
"I will never leave you! I love you, Hermione!" He whispered as she took her head from his embrace and stared blankly into his telling eyes.

  
  
The darkness fought against Hermione's other emotions as it tried to suppress them with more lust for power and destruction, however mustering the little remaining control she had left, Hermione won the immediate battle as she shook her head hysterically and begged her body to return to her control as her eyes began to falter and the darkness drained away revealing her large, weary chocolate irises again,

  
  
"I love you too" she muttered as the furniture crashed to the floor and the room returned to its motionless state.

  
  
The electrical charges that previously omitted from her evolving body seeped back into her as she stroked Draco's wounds on his face and directed her attention at the eager onlookers at the caved in doorway.

  
  
The lovers drifted back to the ground as Voldemort admired Hermione's deadly performance with intrigue,

  
  
"Bravo! Bravo! I'm impressed but you are still capable of so much more so let's see how much more you will show throughout your time here" Voldemort sinisterly gushed as Hermione regarded him with suspicion as he ushered his curious followers away from the bomb site.

  
  
Hermione looked back in amazement and examined all the damaged she had done as Draco began to look for his wand,

  
  
"Found it!" He shouted as he pulled it from underneath the rubble from the obliterated bed.

  
  
Hermione stepped back as she negotiated the small craters in the uneven floor,

  
  
" _Reparo_!" Draco shouted as he repaired the damage Hermione created.

  
  
Within seconds the bedroom was back to normal and any trace of Hermione's meltdown had disappeared. 

  
  
Draco guided his drained lover to the bed as they both sat on the edge, deep in thought over the previous moments activities and gazed at the fire for comfort,

  
  
"I know Voldemort has ulterior motives but I need to know the truth" Hermione whispered to a fearful looking Draco.

  
  
He held his hand up in protest but before he could defend his leader, Hermione concluded,

  
  
"You may have to choose a side in the end as I know he will try to kill me when he has got what he wants but until then why don't you give me a tour to make me feel a little more at home?"

   
  
Draco paused for a moment at the painful predicament he could soon face as Hermione refused to take no for an answer and pulled him up and towards the door.

  
  
Draco tried to make excuses not to leave the room, however the determined witch refused to stay confined any longer.

  
  
The pair peered through the mended doorway as they looked down the gloomy corridor and started the excursion as Draco reluctantly explained the building's history to the intrigued witch as he directed her downstairs and away from the new, mysterious activity in the east wing,

 

“What’s down there?” Hermione asked curiously as they stopped in the foyer and looked around at the four closed doors.

 

Draco tried to guide her in the direction of the kitchen but Hermione refused to move from the small black door to the right hand side of the room.

 

The cracked black paint and worn brass knob only led to Hermione’s interest as she slowly walked towards the intriguing doorway, ignoring Draco’s tug on her sleeve and reached out and turned the knob.

 

A gust of stale air blew out from the gloomy stairwell as she stepped back with caution,

 

“It’s the basement. Do you want to see it?” Draco whispered as he looked around for any other witnesses before stroking the inquisitive witch’s back and leading her down the pitch black staircase as the door slammed shut behind them, leaving the pair at the mercy of the darkness and whatever else resided in the sinister tomb under the volatile manor.

 


	3. Chapter 3 – Covert Cellmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wants a tour of the Malfoy Manor and Draco is reluctant to reveal the secrets of Voldemort's new base but what happens when she won't take no for an answer? And will she like the revelations from one of the rooms Draco lures her into? And will an old friend make Hermione chose between her new lover and her past...

** Chapter 3 – Covert Cellmate **

  
  
The long unstable stairwell rocked and swayed, with the weight of the new arrivals, as the rotting wood provided no sense of security for the curious witch.

  
  
Cobwebs swept passed her chilly face and shuffling noises assaulted her mind, confusing her orientation, as she struggled to find any clues to her new dank surroundings,

  
  
"This is a long staircase" Hermione moaned as she held onto Draco's firm shoulders as he guided the suspicious witch to the bottom of the weak staircase.

  
  
The concrete floor was a happy welcome as a furry breeze brushed passed her feet,

  
  
"Arrrgh rats!" Hermione screamed as she jumped back and attempted to get rid of the bolting rodent with her foot.

  
  
She quickly ripped her wand out of her back pocket and flung it into the musty air,

  
  
"Lumos maxima" she commanded as a flicker of white light sparked from the end of the powerful stick before returning to the tip without success,

  
  
"What happened?" Hermione asked in surprise as Draco chuckled sarcastically at her fruitless attempt,

  
  
"Do you really think he would allow magic down here?" He laughed as he beckoned Hermione forward and further into the gloom.

  
  
Hermione brushed her hand against the wall for any further hints on the situation she was walking into as Draco quickly led her in different directions,

  
  
"Are we in tunnels?" She asked as her hand hit something cold and solid.

  
  
Hermione flung her hand back in fright and stopped as her curiosity got the better of her.

  
  
Draco pulled at her other arm as he tried to continue the journey towards a faint flickering light ahead but Hermione wouldn't move.

  
  
She cautiously reached out and connected with a smooth item as she felt around and inspected the object, with her hand acting as her eyes, in the dark enclosure,

  
  
"Are we in cells?" She continued to guess as she slowly backed away from the iron poles, unsure what dangerous being remained imprisoned in front of her,

  
  
"Not yet" Draco replied guardedly as he grabbed her hand and forcefully led her forwards. 

  
  
The dim light grew in mass ahead as they soon reached the end of the tunnel and stood in the middle of the spotlight.

  
  
Fresh air invaded the stale environment as it faintly blew against Hermione's cobweb tainted hair as she faced the hazy afternoon sunset, that tried to warm the gloomy space through the rusty bars on the tiny rectangle opening.

  
  
Hermione turned around and examined her surroundings with the aid of the fading light from the setting sun.

  
  
Large cells littered both sides of the grey brick blood stained corridor as Hermione put her hand on one of the rusty bars and tried the sharply spiked cell door,

  
  
"Do you want to go in?" Draco whispered enticingly in her ear.

  
  
Hermione looked into Draco's encouraging eyes before slowly pushing the heavy creaky unlocked iron door and step forward cautiously as he followed closely behind.

  
  
The smells of burnt rotting flesh ambushed Hermione's senses,

  
  
"Was this cell used for torture?" She gipped as she rushed through asking her question to avoid the revolting odour infecting her lungs further.

  
  
Hermione held her hand firmly over her nose and mouth as the door slammed shut behind them, creating a fresh gust of the putrid smell to waft over to the nauseated witch.

  
  
Hermione felt her way around the cold chamber as the sun set and provided no more light on her new prison.

  
  
Straw crushed beneath her feet as her hands grazed against the solid brick walls as shadows appeared and disappeared at the corner of her eye before joining the darkness completely.

  
  
Draco followed his visionless lover as she cautiously negotiated her way in the bleakness.

  
  
Shuffling noises kept Hermione alert as she kicked out to scare the curious vermin,

  
  
"Ouch!" She shrieked as her foot connected with something large and solid.

  
  
Hermione hopped on one leg as the throbbing in her injured foot shot through her body,

  
  
"I see you've found the table" Draco laughed as he patted the metal slab for her assurance. 

  
  
He turned Hermione towards him and pushed her back onto the cold wall as she stomped her foot on the ground to check for breakages.

  
  
Draco ignored her fussing as he took his wand out of his cloak and stroked it against his lovers face,

  
  
"So strong, yet so pure. That’s what lure it and myself to you but you will never reach your true potential until you fully let go. Do you trust me?" He asked as he slither his wand down her body.

  
  
Hermione closed her eyes and welcomed the cool static charge that omitted from Draco's magical rod as it connected with her skin and stroked away her apprehension. 

  
  
Draco moved closer to Hermione as he slowly pushed his body against her responsive frame and drove her further into the jagged wall.

  
  
The sharp edges of the wall made the eager witch flinch with uncertainty as Draco grabbed one of Hermione's wrist and held it up above her head.

  
  
He pushed his torso onto Hermione's heaving chest as she winced at the spiky edges of the wall scratching into her spine as he slowly swirled his wand around her raised hand.

  
  
A thin stream of purple mist glowed from the tip of his commanding mahogany stick as sounds of clanking above distracted Hermione's attention as she felt a tight force restrict her movement,

  
  
"Trust me" Draco repeatedly whispered as he kissed the slightly agitated witch's lips and continued the deed.

  
  
A cold rusty strain pinched at her wrist as she tried to move without success,

  
  
"Shackles?" Hermione gasped as she thrashed around and tried to get free.

  
  
Draco threw his cloak onto the metal table and pointed his wand at her other hand as it magically forced it into the air and connected the struggling wrist to the other handcuff,

  
  
"This does not make me trust you, Draco" Hermione growled as the anger began to bubble inside at her lack of control in the intense situation.

  
  
Draco could sense his lover's agitation as he rippled his wand down her body as it snaked to her waist, releasing her buttons as the glowing stick swept over them one by one.

  
  
A gust of evening air blew through the rank cell as Hermione's top flew open, exposing her black laced bra,

  
  
"So I guess you’re in charge now?" She dryly supposed as Draco refused to answer, instead opting to show the bound witch his intentions by whipping his wand at her torso as the purple stream pulsated from the tip and developed into crimson laser as it sliced through her clothing and incinerated them to ashes as the remains fell to the tainted floor like snowflakes, leaving Hermione naked, shackled to the wall and helpless to Draco's ardent plan.

  
  
Draco brushed the wand on his shoulder as the ruby stream lassoed itself around his body, singeing his black garments as they floated to the floor like dust as he stood naked, in front of Hermione's nude silhouette and softly tapped his wand between her legs.

  
  
He crept closer to the shadowy witch as he pressed his muscular frame against her shivering body, ensuring she could feel the intent between his legs.

  
  
Hermione exhaled in delight as he pulled her leg around his waist and began to kiss her yearning mouth.

  
  
She stroked his muscular back as she held onto him tightly, ensuring she could feel every inch of his anatomy,

  
  
"Let go" Draco urged as his kisses became more intense as he grabbed both of Hermione's legs and wrapped them round his waist as she happily obliged.

  
  
She lifted herself into the air as she twisted the chains around her wrists and pulled herself up as she aided her aroused lover.

  
  
Draco maintained his control over the amorous witch as he kissed every inch of her body before using his wand to tantalise his euphoric lover's erogenous zones.

  
  
A slither of ruby coloured light streamed from the tip of his wand and began to entice Hermione's creamy skin as he ran the magical accessory down her body with excitement,

  
  
"Are you ready for me?" He whispered in her ear.

  
  
Hermione nodded frantically, unable to hide her ecstasy as Draco snaked his wand around her glistening breasts and down to her waist.

  
  
She quivered at the sensual movement as the crimson magical trail exploded around her pert breast's as the mist evaporated into her erect nipples, creating her to spasm with delight,

  
  
"Draco, stop-" Hermione panted as the stimulation of the carnal pleasure rippled down her body and imploded between her legs.

  
  
Draco watched his perspiring lover curl her legs tighter around his waist as he slapped her buttocks and released her hands from the shackles.

  
  
Hermione flopped down onto her lover as he swung her round and flopped her over the metal table as he whispered,

  
  
"My turn" and entered the slippery witch from behind.

  
  
The table rattled from its hinges as Draco vigorously showed his lover who had the control as helped the urging witch to reach her climax before grabbing her bottom as he thrust himself in one last time before collapsing onto his mistress’s moist back in an ecstatic coma.

  
  
The drenched pair enjoyed they're climatic moment as Draco began to massage Hermione's sticky shoulders.

  
  
Hermione remained face down on the bloody charred metal slab as a rustling in the corner distracted her blissful minute of rest,

  
  
"Its back!" She squealed as she jumped on the table and put her knees in her chest to cover her exposed body.

  
  
Draco laughed at her fearful reaction,

  
  
"You can destroy rooms, time travel and fight against one of the most powerful beings ever but you are scared of a little rat?" He chuckled as he tried to detect the intruder in the darkness without success.

  
  
The temperature dropped as the sun had fully set and a cold breeze swirled around the rancid space.

  
  
Hermione remained curled up on the table, shivering as the cool evening air slapped against her naked body,

  
  
"I'll be back. I'll go find some cloaks" Draco stated as he left Hermione in the pitch black cell as she refused to leave the table.

  
  
The rustling became louder as Hermione felt around the table for a weapon, ready to attack.

  
  
Darting from one corner of the cell to the other, the intruder suddenly started to move closer as she carefully positioned herself on all fours ready to pounce.

  
  
Hermione grabbed a jagged piece of metal that was hanging from a hole in the table as silence abruptly fell on the desolate cell,

  
  
"This is an extremely big rat" she panicked as she refused to move an inch.

  
  
Footsteps could be heard in the distance as Hermione began to relax, knowing that Draco was on his way back.

  
  
Feeling more at ease, Hermione started to creep down from the table as she felt her way around the sharp edges.

 

Within seconds the table began to rattle as something darted beneath her, banging into the poles as she swiped at the fast phantom.

  
  
Heavy panting circled the defensive witch as jabbed and swung at the invisible intruder.

  
  
Hermione jumped back up on to the table, ready to jump down as the speeding cell mate began to frustrate her,

  
  
"What do you want from me?" She yelled as a splash of liquid sprayed onto her feet and a heavy thud crashed to the floor in front of her.

  
  
Unsure whether she had killed or just injured her tormentor, she crept down from the table and approached the sound of the thud with caution.

  
  
She got down on all fours again and felt around on the floor as she followed the trail of fresh liquid to the damaged hostage.

  
  
The heavy breathing became less regular as Hermione's hand hit the non-responsive body.

  
  
The terrified witch jumped backed as she felt around the intruder and realised it was definitely not a rodent.

  
  
The size of a seven year old child, Hermione gasped at the thought of harming a child as she felt around the young victims face with concern.

   
  
The smooth, leathery skin and oversized eyes confused her mind as she stroked its hairless head and felt around its large ears,

  
  
"Floppy and pointed at the end" she said to herself as she felt around the rest of the still victim’s body in the darkness.

  
  
The old flour sack was no contest for the evening breeze as its thin arms and legs shivered in the makeshift garment,

  
  
"Dobby?" Hermione gasped as the bleeding elf nodded slowly.

  
  
Hermione grabbed her dying friend in her arms and held his head on knees.

  
  
Her tears dropped onto the fading elf’s shivering skin as she cried for his forgiveness,

  
  
"Why didn't you tell me it was you? I could never hurt you intentionally. Please do not leave me" 

  
  
Hermione wrapped her arms around her dying friend as she pressed down on the wound in his stomach to try and slow down the bleeding.

  
  
She cried uncontrollably as she felt around the darkness hopelessly looking for something to help him,

  
  
"Hermione, danger" Dobby stuttered as his breathing began to get restricted by the immense pain,

  
  
"Dobby please hold on" she cried as she frantically wiped her teary eyes with her blood stained hands.

  
  
The little elf’s chest rose and fell slowly as the blood would not stop gushing from the large wound,

  
  
"NO!" Hermione screamed as his struggling chest rose and fell for the last time before giving up completely as she cried out in agony for her friend to come back.

  
  
His lifeless body laid still in her arms as she picked him up and felt her way to the table.

  
  
She placed his withered body on the metal slab as she flopped over her friend's bloody frame and sobbed uncontrollably as flashbacks of the happy times they shared haunted her mind.

  
  
Hermione's tears soaked his woven garment as she refused to leave her friend in the dire tomb he was held hostage in,

  
  
"I will get you out of here! I owe you that!" She cried as she negotiated her way through the gloom and tried the cell door.

  
  
Hermione pulled and shook the unwilling door as it refused to open,

  
  
"Open please!" She cried as the frustration began to ripple through her bare body.

  
  
The shaking metal echoed through the desolate tunnels as she realised her attempts were unsuccessful and went back to her friend.

  
  
Hermione rushed back to her friend as she sped through cobwebs and kicked the previous unfortunate cellmate's rotting carcasses to one side without care,

  
  
"I will find a way out, Dobby I promise" she sobbed as she crashed back into the table in her haste and felt around for his body.

  
  
Hermione frantically swept the table with her shaky hands as she desperately search for the deceased elf.

  
  
Her hands slid through the bloody surface as the empty space provided Hermione with no answers,

  
  
"Dobby?" Hermione shrieked as she felt around under and around the table hysterically to no avail,

  
  
"He's gone!" She wept as she fell to the ground and put her head in her knees as Dobby's face flashed before he closed eyes.

  
  
The smell of his blood only increased Hermione's mourning as she rocked back and forth as she tried to shake the memories out of her head.

  
  
Her skin began to pulsate with grievance as a mist of black smoke sept from her flesh and created a dark static ball around the anguished witch,

  
  
"I'm so sorry, Dobby!" She repeated as the dark mass increased in static energy.

  
  
The raging electric charge sparked out into the darkness as flashes of light bounced out the pitch black cell ceiling.

  
  
A shuffling distracted Hermione's attention as she refused to move from her position in fear of what she may find as she directed the electric charge towards the rustling sounds and aimed them into the air.

  
  
A shower of white sparks rained down onto a small patch of straw in the corner as she squinted her eyes and looked closer at the shocking sight.

  
  
There, sitting on the floor with a look of trepidation spread across his face, sat Dobby observing his friend's new demeanour with alarm,

  
  
"Dobby? Is this real or am I dreaming?" Hermione gasped as she sprung to her feet and raced towards her old friend.

  
  
Dobby coward in the corner as Hermione stopped in her tracks and realised she was still naked with her pulsating barrier up.

  
  
She closed her eyes and allowed the memories of her happier times with Dobby to sweep over her mind as the mist gradually disappeared and trickled back into her body, leaving Hermione free to welcome her mended friend back without fear of hurting him again.

  
  
Dobby vigilantly watched the unpredictable witch as he slapped his hands over his eyes once more, embarrassed at his friend's exposed body.

  
  
Hermione blushed at her predicament as she grabbed some straw and covered the more intimate parts of her body.

  
  
She carefully sat next to the nervous elf before grabbing him and squeezing him tight,

  
  
"It's real! Dobby, you’re alive!" She squealed as the fragile elf struggled to breathe. 

  
  
Hermione released her enthusiastic grasp and allowed her friend some space,

  
  
"I'm sorry about what you saw. A lot has changed Dobby and I am also changing and there's nothing I can do about it" she desperately explained as he regarded her hesitantly,

  
  
"I can see Hermione Granger is changing but Hermione Granger still has a choice and still has time to make the right decision" he riddled as Hermione tried to press him further but the sound of footsteps in the distance made him reluctant to explain more to his pleading friend.

  
  
She realised the cautious elf was too petrified to reveal more about what he knows regarding her evolving state so she changed her probing direction and asked him how he ended up in the cells back at Malfoy Manor,

  
  
"After Dobby escaped, Dobby helped Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley after the war. Hermione Granger was Dobby's friend but Dobby could not stay. Ronald Weasley did not want magic anymore and Dobby had to leave. Dobby missed Hermione Granger and went back but was caught by Lucius Malfoy and tortured for information about my friend Hermione Granger" Dobby explained as Hermione scratched her head in confusion,

  
  
"But why would he want information about me?" She asked as the footsteps echoed around the entrance of the tunnel.

  
  
Dobby looked around in fear as he jumped to his feet and ran into the corner,

  
  
"Hermione Granger in danger here" he whispered as Hermione followed him to his hiding spot and knelt in front of him, looking for more answers,

  
  
"Dobby, how did you come back? You were dead, I could feel no pulse" she asked as she held onto the elf's hand not wanting leave his side.

  
  
Dobby stroked Hermione's distressed face,

  
  
"Hermione Granger's tears healed Dobby. Hermione Granger's passion for Dobby's life brought Dobby back" he stated as the amazed witch crawled back in astonishment,

  
  
"I can't do that? No magic can be performed in the basement" Hermione whispered as the footsteps sounded metres away.

  
  
Dobby felt around and put Hermione's hand on his heart,

  
  
"Hermione Granger has great powers and that's why Hermione Granger is in danger here" Dobby explained as Hermione knew she was rapidly running out of time.

  
  
Dobby coward down as the footsteps reached the opposite end of the cell,

  
  
"OK so you say I have great power, let’s see just how much" Hermione whispered as she slapped her hand on the cold brick and closed her eyes.

  
  
Swirls of pink, purple and green hues danced before her eyes as they shot from her closed eyelids and beamed onto the cell wall.

  
  
A swirling vortex appeared in minutes as she grabbed her friend's hand and guided him towards the whirling tunnel of light.

  
  
Dobby resisted, not wanting to leave the brave witch behind,

  
  
"Hermione Granger must come with Dobby" he cried as she shook her head in protest,

  
  
"I need to find out the truth, Dobby, but you must go now. I will send you to Harry but please do not come back. It is too dangerous for you here and I cannot lose you again"

   
  
Before the distressed elf could change her mind, Hermione pushed her friend into the vortex as the cell door flung open and a blast of lightning hit at the closing whirlpool of light,

  
  
"What are you doing? How did you create that?" Draco yelled in amazement as he aimed his wand again, ready to discharge another round at the escapee.

  
  
Hermione jumped in the way, torn between supporting her lover and protecting her friend,

  
  
"I don't want to go against you but I won't let you harm him" Hermione stated as they both watched the vortex disappear into the wall as Draco growled in fury.

  
  
He threw some clothes at Hermione in anger as she put them on quickly, thankful for the extra warmth to her quivering skin as Draco regarded her curiously,

  
  
"I think I underestimated you and maybe Voldemort has too" he stated as he opened the cell door and beckoned her through it.

  
  
Hermione could see the insulted look in his glare as she carefully walked towards the door and stopped in the doorway as she stood in front of her offended lover and kissed his cheek.

  
  
She pressed herself against his unyielding frame as he refused to look into her eyes.

  
  
Hermione stroked his face and moved it to look at her,

  
  
"I love you and want to be with you but not at the extent of harming my friend. I could not live with that" she explained as Draco grabbed her wrist and stared deadly into her eyes as his cold glare made the powerful witch feel uneasy,

  
  
"Very soon you won't have the luxury of having a choice in them decisions. You need to make a choice and when he shows you the truth, you will see these people have never been your friends and we are the ones you can truly trust".

  
  
Hermione stood gawping at Draco's riddle as he forcefully guided her out of the cells and through the winding tunnels with furious determination as Hermione panted at the speed he was dragging her along,

  
  
"Where are we going in such hurry?" She asked.

  
  
Draco refused to look back as Hermione tapped his tense shoulders softly to reminded him of her question,

  
  
"Voldemort wants you in the dining room now so hurry up" he sniped as Hermione felt a chill of foreboding spill over her but continued to follow her angry lover as she wondered if she made the right decision to trust him after all.


	4. Chapter 4 – Flaming Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione meets the other residents of Malfoy Manor in the dining room but not all are happy the new guest is in their presence. So what happens when Hermione starts to feel alone and out of Draco's graces and who (or what) will be waiting in the wings to help the evolving witch on her journey towards the truth?

** Chapter 4 – Flaming Fury **

  
  
Enormous black arched double doors stood before Hermione and Draco as she hesitated about entering,

  
  
"Are they all in there?" Hermione nervously asked as Draco nodded darkly. 

  
  
The gothic patterned border introduced Hermione to the uncompromising characters inside the room, as the jagged designs and menacing gargoyle faces, carved into the thick, imposing wood frame, made her shudder with trepidation.

  
  
A faint muttering could be heard beneath the solid imposing divider as Draco pushed his hand on the handle-less entrance and struggled to open the heavy doors,

  
  
"Ahhh Hermione, it's a little disappointing to see you back to normal but no doubt we will see your real side revealing itself again soon" Voldemort mocked as he glimpsed at Bellatrix as she regarded Hermione with a grimacing glare.

  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes at Bellatrix's intimidating behaviour as she taunted the nervous witch, with her wand, pointing it at Hermione as it followed her to her seat at the other end of the table.

  
  
The other Death Eaters pulled away from the unwelcome guest as the sceptical group whispered to each other about their reservations on their leader's plan.

  
  
Voldemort heard part of one of his followers doubting conversations as he stood up and slammed his hands on the table, as the dimly lit room fell upon a dead silence.

  
  
Hermione grabbed onto Draco's hand under the long black imposing table as they dodged the spilt glasses that rolled around on the shiny surface, from the vibrating force, and waited for Voldemort's wrath.

  
  
The furious leader focused on one of his petrified follower's as he pointed at the quivering disciple.

  
  
His long, thin grey withered finger sent chills down the table members spine's as they all anxiously waited for his punishment,

  
  
"You doubt me after everything I have shown you? Maybe you are on the wrong side? Or - maybe you are not worthy to serve on any side at all?" He screamed as he grabbed his wand from beneath his wide black sleeve and aimed it at the unsuspecting victim.

  
  
A sharp bolt of red lightning flew from the wand and lit the grey and black space as the other Death Eaters backed away from the doomed follower.

  
  
The lightning trail wrapped itself around the struggling Death Eater as Voldemort controlled its movement and intensity,

  
  
"Do you have any final words - of doubt?" He whispered as the bolt tightened its grasp around the follower's body.

  
  
The Death Eater frantically shook his head as the scorching trail enveloped his body from top to toe as he tried to morph into his gassy form, to escape, without success.

  
  
Voldemort smiled with glee as he watched his doubting minion slowly disintegrate to dust before ripping his wand away at the final moment, creating a blast of dust which shot into the air as the victim's body burst into a shower of ashes, littering the table from the black candle chandelier above,

  
  
"Anymore questions?" He yelled at the room as his voice bounced against the granite coloured walls, ensuring his followers were under no illusion about his power.

  
  
Hermione stood, grounded to the spot as Draco pulled her back to her seat, trying to appear unaffected by what he had just witnessed.

  
  
Regaining control of himself, Voldemort gestured the group to return to their seats as Bellatrix's glance at Hermione and blew her fellow member's ashes towards her.

  
  
The grey dusty remains swirled towards the witch, as a gust of wind from the hallway assisted the cremated whirlwind as it flew into Hermione's face,

  
  
"What are you doing?" Hermione shrieked.

  
  
Bellatrix cackled at the flapping witch as Hermione frantically dusted herself down to get rid of the previously doomed Death Eater's ashes.

  
  
Frustrated at the mocking from the deranged follower, Hermione grabbed her wand from her back pocket and swiped it at the taunting Death Eater.

  
  
Bellatrix stopped laughing and lunged her wand at the annoyed witch.

  
  
Voldemort grew tired of the witches’ antics and attempt to regain order,

  
  
"Enough!" He bellowed as he raised his hands in protest as Hermione's eyes began to blacken with fury,

  
  
"Take her to the bedroom. This meeting is over!" He announced as Draco grabbed onto Hermione's arm in embarrassment and led her out of the simmering room.

  
  
The fresh breeze in the hallway cooled down the fiery witch as they walked to the bedroom in silence with Draco refusing to look at his torn lover.

  
  
They entered the bedroom and Draco stormed off into the ensuite bathroom to the side of the fireplace and slammed the door shut as Hermione slumped down onto the bed, deflated at her lover’s refusal to acknowledge her.

  
  
She gazed into the roaring fire as she silently begged for answers - but none came.

  
  
Instead, the seductive flames danced before her eyes as their rhythmic motion hypnotically lulled her into a sense of utter elation.

  
  
Hermione slowly backed away from the mesmerising sight as her head hit the headboard,

  
  
"Ouch!" She hissed as she gawped at the developing scene before her.

  
  
Dancing and swaying out of the ashy pit, Hermione gasped as the flames snaked their way out of the fireplace, up the walls and towards the bed, creating a flaming cage of intensity.

  
  
Hermione tried to jump off the bed but she was paralysed to the king sized prison as the flames smacked and lashed at the quivering witch.

  
  
She tried to scream for Draco but no sound came out.

  
  
Instead, a small stream of black smoke slithered up from her contracting throat and into the fiery atmosphere, searching for something to attach itself to.

  
  
The enticing flames beckoned the black stream towards the ceiling as they merged with the connected black smoke and used it to connect to the incapacitated witch.

  
  
Hermione's mouth was clamped open by the smoky stream as she looked on in terror as her eyes widen with despair at the creeping stream of fire that was windy its way down the mist rope and towards Hermione's mouth.

  
  
She tossed and turned as the sheets tighten themselves around her wrists and ankles as she silently begged Draco to return to the room to help her - but the bathroom door remained firmly shut.

  
  
Hermione gagged Draco's name but all that came out her scorching mouth were frantic gurgles.

  
  
The fire seared her chapped lips as her body began to convulse at the fiery entity that had now entered her scorching shell.

  
  
Hermione closed her eyes as the fiery trail worked its way around her vital organs, infecting each one with a spark of flaming enticement as she gave up the fight and waited to join Voldemort's previous follower’s ashes.

  
  
Her skin began to crack and emit a sizzling orange glow as the flaming trail came to the end of its journey at her frazzled head.

  
  
The flames wildly lashed around behind her eyes as the force levitated Hermione above the bed and mummified the scorching witch in a wrap of fire just as the bathroom handle turned.

  
  
Hermione's body hung in the air as Draco stood in the doorway, staring at the blazing room in terror.

  
  
He observed the burning walls and ceiling as his baffled mind tried to work out what type of magic created this fiery force.

  
  
Draco slowly pulled his wand from his cloak as a stream of fire shot itself from the floating witch and whipped the wand from his hand, leaving him helpless and powerless to help his suffocating lover,

  
  
"Hermione!" He screamed to the swirling ball of fire that floated before his eyes.

  
  
The fiery mummified sight started to pulsate and shake as it reacted with Draco's panicked shrieks,

  
  
"I'm sorry about earlier. I know Bellatrix provoked you. Just please come back to me" he screamed.

  
  
The pulsating fiery ball stretched and tore as Hermione's limps began to tear through her flaming cage as Draco ducked in the doorway to avoid the fiery bolts that were being expelled into the room from the escaping witch.

  
  
With the last pieces of the flaming cover gone, Hermione slowly hovered back onto the bed as her cracked skin slowly repaired itself.

  
  
She looked at her petrified lover cowering in the doorway as the fiery entity ripped her head towards the ceiling, gripped her eyes open wide and shot the remaining flames from the walls and ceiling into the paralysed witch's eyes as the room returned to normal with only the roaring flames lashing out behind Hermione's eyes as a reminder of the previous minute's fiery events.

  
  
Draco cautiously walked towards his unresponsive lover on the bed,

  
  
"Hermione?" He whispered.

  
  
A smoky veil covered the witch's body as she bolted upright and faced her lover blankly.

  
  
Draco backed away, unsure of what to expect from the emotionless witch as she stood, robotically, in front of him and regarded him with determination as a faint eerie voice echoed around her searing mind,  
  
"East Wing".

  
  
She stepped forward and put her blistering hand on his cheek as the connection engulfed him in a fiery veil as images and feelings of the new entity that infected Hermione, revealed part of itself to the petrified Death Eater.

  
  
Hermione moved her cracked smoky hand away from Draco's singed cheek as he fell down to his knees, unable to take anymore,

  
  
"I have given up everything for you which is proof or who's side I am on but now you must show me your devotion. Show me what is in the East Wing" Hermione coolly demanded as she walked towards the bedroom door.

  
  
Draco jumped in front of the heavy mahogany divider and begged his lover to wait until the morning as she held up her hand and threw him to the side.

  
  
The shocked Death Eater stared at the powerful witch with alarm as he regarded her wand on the bed with foreboding,

  
  
"Hermione you didn't use your wand to move me" he gasped as his unresponsive lover looked back at Draco on the floor and confidently concluded,

  
  
"I have much more power inside me than any wand does - well all but one, and once I find it, no one will be able to stop me from finding out the truth"

   
  
With that, Hermione opened the door and headed to the East Wing, leaving Draco to run to the dining room to get Voldemort to stop his determined lover before she finds out the truth and destroys them all. 


	5. Chapter 5 – The Masked Maze

** Chapter 5 – The Masked Maze **

  
  
Hermione slowly walked towards the small arched door at the end of the narrow corridor as sounds of frantic yells and movement echoed from the floor below.

  
  
Unaffected by the commotion of the other residents storming up the stairs to stop her, she smirked at the upcoming fight and dragged her hands along the black walls as a trail of fire followed the determined witch, igniting the walls and ceiling behind her,

  
  
"Hermione! Stop! It’s not time yet!" Draco yelled as his emotionless lover ignored his pleads and reached out for the rusty copper door knob.

   
  
Her smouldering hand connected with the cool metal as the handle melted on her touch,

  
  
"Let her go in. We have nothing to hide. She is family now. She should trust us, like we trust her. Go ahead, open it" Voldemort shouted mischievously, leaving his confused followers to back away from behind him, waiting to see the unpredictable witch's response.

  
  
Hermione wiped away the coagulated copper from her hands, as the small pieces of metal fell to the floor like marbles, and pushed the door wide open, ready to face whatever atrocity was waiting to attack her from behind the mysterious divide.

  
  
An apprehensive silence fell upon the blazing corridor as they all held their breath in trepidation,

  
  
"What do you see?" Voldemort asked alluringly from behind the flames. He cautiously moved through the scorching barrier and towards the witch with a smirk on his face.

  
  
Hermione entered the small empty space as she observed the hidden room with bewilderment.

  
  
Grey brick walls and a concrete floor dominated the empty shell as a small slit in the wall served as a window. A thin stream of moonlight danced in the middle of the room, acting as a spotlight to give a little light to the dank empty space,

  
  
"There's nothing here" Hermione remarked with confusion as she turned to leave the room with frustration.

  
  
Voldemort stepped to one side, blocking her exit, as the annoyed witch stopped dead in her tracks and looked behind the Dark Lord in amazement.

  
  
The door slowly creaked closed and Hermione jumped back, unsure whether she could trust her eyes and mind anymore, as she gawped at the unbelievable sight in front of her,

  
  
"Hermione?" Draco panicked from behind the smoking door.

 

The confused witch could not process the sequence of events that were unravelling before her eyes as she ignored her lover's petrified yells for reassurance and remained silently focused on the alluring vision in front of her.

  
  
Voldemort beckoned the flummoxed witch forward as the shadowy figures cautiously came into full view from behind the bloody scratched door, apprehensive of Hermione's new erratic nature,

  
  
"Hello Hermione" the shaken man greeted as he held out his quivering arms to the shocked witch.

  
  
Hermione remained frozen to the spot with her mind spinning in astonishment,

  
  
"Look at you. You've grown so much" a middle aged woman commented longingly as she joined the nervous man's side,

  
  
"How - ?" Hermione mumbled, unable to comprehend the two figures in front of her.

  
  
Voldemort smirked as he opened the door, leaving Draco to burst in and run to the back of Hermione as he held her shoulders in support,

  
  
"Go ahead, Hermione I did this for you" Voldemort pushed as he guided the couple towards the overwhelmed witch and stood back to watch the sensitive interaction unfold.

  
  
Hermione stepped forward and examined the woman’s face in bewilderment before throwing herself into the middle aged lady's arms,

  
  
"Mum! I can't believe it! Is this real? Do you really remember who I am?" She cried as her mother cupped her face lovingly and kissed her emotional daughter on her forehead,

  
  
"Yes darling. I remember now. We both do" she replied as she gazed over to her husband who also joined in with the touching reunion,

  
  
"We have so much to catch up on. We've missed so much. We don't want to waste another minute" Hermione's father gushed. He hugged his daughter with his wife and frantically examined her as the unbelievable reunion rocked through Hermione's mind,

  
  
"I have so many questions -" Hermione cried as Voldemort held up his hand at the heart-warming reconciliation and ushered them out of the room,

  
  
"Why don't you take them on a tour of the grounds, Draco. They can catch up and you can show them the maze" he glared as Draco reluctantly agreed and showed the trio out of the room as a flurry of Voldemort's followers swept into the small space to join their watchful leader. Voldemort slammed the door shut as he concealed his future plans firmly in the secret room, leaving the manor in an eerie silence, with only the sounds of cautious chatty between the reunited trio to fill the echoing stairwell.

  
  
The beautiful clear moonlit sky beamed promise as Draco guided them around the perfectly manicured garden grounds.

  
  
Deep red roses scented the side of the winding cobbled pathway as the thorny bushes restricted access to certain areas of the grounds,

  
  
"It's beautiful, Draco" Hermione gushed.

  
  
"How elaborate. I haven't seen a maze like that for years" her father remarked as he admired the hedged labyrinth with curiosity,

  
  
"Would you like to go in?" Draco asked as the parents nodded enthusiastically.

  
  
Hermione looked on anxiously as she examined the thorny maze with suspicion,

  
  
"Why don't we just sit here. I just want to catch up with my parents, not get lost and waste our time trying to find a way out" she replied as her parents shot a look of concern to Draco.

  
  
Draco walked towards his unsure lover and kissed her cheek as he playfully whispered,

  
  
"It'll be fun. Don't you trust me?"

  
  
Hermione gazed into his glistening cloudy grey eyes as they swirled a storm of lust at the hesitant witch.

  
  
She looked at the shadowy statuses around her and inspected for any further guests on the grounds as she took a heavy sigh and replied,

  
  
"Ok maybe it will be".

  
  
Her parents stood at either side of their daughter and linked arms with the reluctant witch as they walked in together as Draco guided the way.

  
  
The high walls of the narrow hedged passageways scratched against Hermione's sleeves as they followed Draco one by one through the confusing labyrinth,

  
  
"Do you remember when you took me to Chelsea Flower Show and I got lost in the maze there?" Hermione chuckled as she glanced back at her mother to confirm the memory,

  
  
"Yes darling I do. I was so angry that you were silly enough to go in" her mother scowled as Hermione looked back in confusion,

  
  
"You were angry? You seemed so upset and worried" she continued.

  
  
Draco could hear the reminiscing and stopped in front,

  
  
"I think we should try this way" he shouted as the others followed on blindly.

  
  
Hermione slowed down and left a slight gap between herself, Draco and her father as she continued to recall her past memories with her out of breath mother,

  
  
"I remember when you used to take me for walks in the park every Sunday, before you would start cooking, and you would buy me an ice cream every time but then lie to dad when we got home, when he would get suspicious with the syrup still on my mouth" Hermione recalled as she stopped and swung round to face her hesitant mother.

  
  
Hermione looked her straight in the eye as the pensive witch took in every feature of her mother's weary face,

  
  
"Yes darling I remember. Me and your father used to get into many arguments about the treats I used to spoil you with" she stammered.

  
  
Hermione stepped back and observed her mother with disdain.

  
  
The moonlight beamed a shimmer of white light over the complex maze as it failed to penetrate the developing black sphere that was enclosing Hermione's shuddering body,

  
  
"Hermione?" Her mother screamed as she watched her daughter's skin crack open as fiery sparks discharged from the open wounds,

  
  
"You-are-not-my-mother" Hermione seethed.

  
  
The black gassy ball began to spin as electric charges started to crackle in the evolving barrier,

  
  
"I am darling! Now stop this at once" her mother ordered as her authoritative toned only added to Hermione's anger.

  
  
The sounds of footsteps behind her distracted Hermione for a second as she raised her hand in front of her and omitted an electrically vaporous charge that wrapped itself round her mother's neck,

  
  
"Hermione what are you doing?" Draco shrieked.

  
  
She glared at her lover with her determined black eyes and regarded him with hatred,

  
  
"She is not my mother. My parents never indulged me in sweet treats! They were dentists for God's sake and they never argued so now I ask for the last time - who are they? And why have you done this to me?" She spat.

  
  
Draco attempted to penetrate the growing electrical sphere with his wand,

  
  
"Don't-do-that!" Hermione warned as she closed her eyes and tightened her grasp around her mother's bloody neck.

  
  
The destructive dome blasted Draco's wand into the distance as the helpless Death Eater held his hands up to surrender,

  
  
"I didn't mean to do this Hermione, you must understand but he needed to get you away from that room and I had to follow his orders" Draco rushed as her mother pointed furiously at the confessing wizard,

  
  
"You snake! Wait until he hears what you have just said" Hermione's mother choked.

  
  
Her blood shot bulging eyes regarded Draco with contemptible rage as she struggled to remove the fiery smoky choker from around her neck.

  
  
Hermione squeezed her fists together tighter as the misty restraint reduced the female imposter's breathing as a tearing sound disturbed Hermione's need for revenge,

  
  
"What is that?" Hermione gasped.

  
  
The remaining trio stepped back as Hermione kept a hold of her mother's neck,

  
  
"Look at her skin" She yelled.

  
  
The moonlight shone onto the eerie unravelling situation as shards of her mother's skin ripped from her face and fell onto the ground,

  
  
"You!" Hermione screamed as the last piece of the mask fell away from the smirking female's face.

  
  
Wild black hair replaced the sleek chocolate brown bob hair cut as her pallid skin rippled in the evening breeze,

  
  
"Thank goodness I'm free! I couldn't spend one more minute pretending to be related to someone as pathetic as you" she mocked as Hermione tightened her grip on the taunting woman.

  
  
Draco cautiously stepped closer to his agitated lover,

  
  
"Hermione don't do this! Please! This is exactly what they want. I couldn't tell you before but I can't see you make this mistake because if you kill her you will be lost forever" Draco whispered as Hermione's father tried to run away.

  
  
A lasso of scorching black fire ran after the panicked Death Eater as it wrapped round his leg and dragged him back.

  
  
The blazing dark flames penetrated his leg as he attempted to morph to get away,

  
  
"Why should I believe anything you say? You lied about everything just to get me here" Hermione cried.

  
  
Draco shook his head with guilt as he carefully put his hand on the fiery sphere and gritted his teeth.

  
  
Electrical charges crept up his arm as the fiery trail followed, burning the sleeve away from his cloak as he braved the intense heat blistering his skin.

  
  
Hermione looked at her lover's bubbling arm with angst,

  
  
"Take your hand away" she shrieked.

  
  
Draco refused and painfully pushed his hand further into the blazing barrier.

  
  
He gazed into Hermione's blackened eyes as he searched for a hint of the woman he fell in love with,

  
  
"I may have lied about many things but I did not lie when I said I love you and that's why no matter what happens I cannot let you do this. I couldn't tell you before because he would have killed me but this is what he wants. In order to get into Hogwarts he needs you, but in order to take on the others he needs you to allow these entities to fully take over and the only way this will happen is by you killing a magical being" he confessed.

  
  
A silence fell upon the leafy passageway as Hermione slowly let down her barrier and stared at him in bewilderment,

  
  
"Why are you telling me this now? Once he finds out you confessed he will kill you anyway" Hermione replied.

  
  
Draco looked down at the floor solemnly,

  
  
"I know but I couldn't lie to you anymore. I love you too much to let this happen to you" he continued as a sinister cackle broke the touching moment,

  
  
"Well that was stupid wasn't it? You risked your life for this? You never was much of a Death Eater and it’s about time he knew exactly what type of traitor you are!" The disgusted woman spat as she morphed into her gassy form and escaped into the midnight sky.

  
  
Hermione regain control of the fleeing woman and snapped a black fiery lasso in the air as she watched it quickly curl around the laughing Death Eaters neck. The less confident woman thought she could transform into her gassy form and escape from the furious witch but with the tightening restrain around her throat she realised her time to abscond was reducing quickly,

  
  
"No you won't" Hermione said dryly as she gave a look of pure fury at the other Death Eater and shot a static ball of black fire at the fleeing man.

  
  
The absorbing sphere enveloped him as he kicked and scratched to get out of the shrinking, suffocating prison.

  
  
Hermione refocused on the struggling woman as she raised her arms and threw the frantic woman into the air.

  
  
Flashbacks of that fatal night ten years ago screamed through her mind as she struggled to maintain focus on the matter at hand,

  
  
"Are you remembering the night when I killed your friends? It was amazing. To see the pure fear in their eyes. It was magical but the best kill I have ever done has to be your parents. They didn't even know what they were dying for. It was beautiful" the floating female laughed.

  
  
Hermione's eyes widen with shock,

  
  
"Noooo! Hermione don't listen! She's lying! Bellatrix shut up! Draco yelled as he stood back and watched his unpredictable lover absorb the devastating news.

  
  
A black tear fell from the inconsolable witch's eye as the swarming barrier returned.

  
  
Red fiery sparks spat from the swirling sphere as it pulsated a blistering heat,

  
  
"You killed my parent's Bellatrix?" Hermione asked darkly as Bellatrix nodded frantically, still trying to remove the scorching choker from around her blistering neck.

  
  
Hermione gazed at her worried lover as she mouthed,

  
  
"I'm sorry" and ripped her arms from the blistered pair as she watched the burning lasso's of fire rip off the imposing pair heads and blast their bodies into showers of flaming ashes as they blew away in the midnight air.

  
  
Draco fell to his knees as a gust of wind blew in behind him.

  
  
Hermione looked behind her disappointed lover with a pitiful exhausted glance as the new grinning visitor slowly clapped his hands in glee at the remaining ashes that danced before his face,

  
  
"And now it truly begins" he snarled.

  
  
Hermione ran to Draco and joined him on the floor as she gazed into his eyes and searched for a ray of hope,

  
  
"I will make this better" she tried but all Draco could do was shake his head with doubt.

  
  
He stood up and dusted off his cloak as he composed himself and joined the Dark Lord by his side.

  
  
Hermione shot of looking of betrayal at her lover as she beckoned him to stand with her,

  
  
"You did this to me Voldemort!" She screamed as she threw her arms into the air, ready to attack the smug Dark Lord.

  
  
Draco jumped in front of his leader,

  
  
"You only have one option now Hermione and that is to let him show you how to ease into the transition. Kill him and you'll kill us all before sunrise. Is that what you want?" Draco pleaded.

  
  
His confused lover looked at the desolate space around her and put down her arms in defeat,

  
  
"I trust you" she whimpered to Draco as her grabbed her tightly in his arms and morphed into his foggy state as the trio headed back into the manor and started to put a plan of action together to deal with Hermione's upcoming evolution as she struggled to keep her yearnings for ultimate power at bay throughout the rest of the night.


	6. Chapter 6 – The Becoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione is changing rapidly and the resident's of Malfoy Manor as no longer confident they can control the erratic witch's need for power. Draco is watching his lover get taken over by an unknown, dark force and Voldemort is risking a lot on being able to control the unrelenting witch's thirst for power and pleasure. So what happens when Draco bounds the powerful witch with strict order's to make sure she is not reminded of anything from her past...

**Chapter 6 – The Becoming**  
  
The trio swooped back into the ill lit reception of Malfoy Manor as Hermione went tumbling to the side as she began to shake and sweat with unease.

  
  
The atmosphere churned with trepidation. Voldemort examined the tormented witch as she attempted to fight the dark force ravishing her body,

  
  
"And so it begins" one of the Death Eater's smiled darkly. The crowd stood back, cautiously admiring the first stages of Hermione's transformation with gleeful fascination.

 

  
Hermione groaned in agony, struggling to control herself,

  
  
"It's ripping apart my insides" she cried.

  
  
A dark smoky mass swirled around and surrounded Hermione. Draco stood beside his morphing lover and attempted to hold onto her quivering shoulders from behind, while the others watched on intently,

  
  
"It's going to be an interesting night. Take her up upstairs and restrain her and do not let her be reminded of anything from her past" Voldemort ordered sternly, vigilantly watching the absorbing mass with concern.

  
  
Faces from Hermione's past, screamed and moaned as they struggled to escape the restricting ball of gloom. Groaning liquid silhouettes of Ron, Harry, Dumbledore and her parents stretched and pulled as they were sucked back into the developing mist without mercy.

  
  
Hermione's vision became blurred, leaving her to lash out as she tried to find a familiar face to help her.

  
  
Her anxious demeanour agitated the other Death Eater's, leaving them to back away from the crumbling witch as she wailed around frantically,

  
  
"What is happening to me?" She screamed.

  
  
The murky smokiness began to fill the room before Voldemort attempted to absorb the mystifying smog into his wand without success,

  
  
"Get her out of here!" He yelled from behind the dense mist.

  
  
Hermione's legs began to feel heavy as she struggled to stay upright and went tumbling to her knees with a thud.

  
  
Streams of fire shot from her blackened eyes without warning. The volatile fiery bolts lashed out at the other vision less Death Eater's, as they jumped out of the way to avoid they're fiery demise.

  
  
Draco shot Voldemort a look of panic,

  
  
"Take her now" Voldemort shouted again, this time more determined to get the dangerous witch away from him and out of the fog filled foyer.

  
  
Draco jumped backed from his unpredictable lover as he felt her creamy skin begin to crack and split beneath his trembling fingers. 

  
  
He carefully felt around the thick fog and cautiously picked up the unbalanced witch. Draco guided her upstairs to the bedroom as she left a blazing trail of fire behind her, ensuring Voldemort knew that this was just the beginning of the unknown explosive evolution.

  
  
The other Death Eater's desperately tried to put out the flames as Voldemort ordered them back to the dining room to discuss new developments in his plan to invade Hogwarts.

  
  
The lovers reached the bedroom as the smoky veil evaporated into Hermione's changing frame,

  
  
"Do you think it will kill me, Draco?" She asked through strained pants.

  
  
Draco looked at his sweating lover with dread,

  
  
"You just have to be strong and try to maintain the thirst" he stuttered.

  
  
Hermione's body contracted uncontrollably. Shards of fire and lightning expelled from her cracked skin as Draco ran for his wand,

  
  
"I'm sorry but I have to do this" he whispered. He swung his wand into the air and pointed it to all four corners of the bed posts.

  
  
A thin rope of red light snapped at Hermione's wrists and ankles restraining her to the vibrating bed,

  
  
"Let me go!" She shrieked as she thrashed and shook the bed viciously with frustration.

  
  
The room became alive with fury as Hermione summoned the fireplace to come to her aid.

  
  
Flames escaped from the obliging pit, engulfing the room with fiery revenge.

  
  
Draco struggled to protect himself from Hermione's blazing wrath,

  
  
"Hermione don't do this!" He cried but he was no longer pleading with his rational lover.

 

  
Her dead black eyes glared at him with vengeance as the dark void continued to consume its host,

  
  
"Run!" She panted as Draco looked around the fire filled space, choking from the thick smoke that was developing and ran to get Voldemort.

  
  
Hermione continued to struggle to get free,

  
  
"Release me" she seethed to the ceiling.

  
  
Her skin began to ripple with destructive delight as the bed slowly levitated from the creaky wooden floor.

  
  
Hermione ripped her head from left to right as shots of black thunder bolts projected from her fire filled eyes and blasted each bed post into ashes.

  
  
Free from restriction, she got off the bed and observed her fiery cage,

  
  
"Enough!" She said sternly as she held her arms above her head and commanded control over the lashing flames that surrounded her.

  
  
The fiery cocoon obeyed the impassive witch and shot straight into her welcoming palms.

  
  
Hermione absorbed the blazing force into her body as she examined the state of the room.

  
  
Scorch marks littered the walls which was the only evidence of her scorching experience,

  
  
"Hermione your free?!" Draco gasped as he cautiously ran into the bedroom with Voldemort following closely behind.

  
  
Voldemort curiously examined the room, rubbing his hand on the soot stained wall before looking around at the unaffected furniture,

  
  
"Curious. I expected the transformation to play out a little differently" he deduced.

  
  
Draco gave him a puzzled look as Voldemort carefully pulled out his wand and pointed it at the unsuspecting witch.

  
  
The glimmer from the moonlight bounced over the tip of the glossy stick, alerting Hermione to his attention,

  
  
"Don't!" She growled as she fired a bolt of lightning at the Dark Lord.

  
  
Voldemort jumped to the side as the bolt blasted a hole in the connecting bathroom wall,

  
  
" _Imperio_ " he screamed.

  
  
A green fog surrounded Hermione as her body froze,

 

  
"What did you do to her?" Draco cried as he tapped on his statue lover.

  
  
Voldemort laughed at his panicked motions,

  
  
"I have cast a mind control spell on her and if you want to live through the night, I suggest you do as I say" 

  
  
Draco reluctantly walked over to Voldemort's side. The green mist covered Hermione as Voldemort slowly walked towards the still witch,

  
  
"As soon as I take my wand away, you will get into bed and allow the transformation to complete. You will go to sleep and not awake until sunrise. You will show us utter loyalty as we are your only family now and you will never attack us. You will kill Dumbledore and everyone at Hogwarts". 

  
  
Draco gawped at his leader as Voldemort whispered the last sentence to the obedient witch and whipped his wand back into his sleeve and out of sight,

  
  
"You want her to go against Dumbledore?" Draco carefully asked his smug leader.

  
  
A macabre smirk formed on Voldemort's featureless pallid face as he ordered Hermione to the bed.

  
  
The robotic witch got undressed down to her underwear and got into the tussled bed as Voldemort basked in the control he had over the powerful witch,

  
  
"Yes! I don't know if this spell will last very long as I can feel the uncontrollably power that fills this room and wants to get out so we will go to Hogwarts tomorrow and she will kill Dumbledore because if she doesn't - I will kill her"

  
  
Voldemort looked at his conflicted follower in the eyes on his last promise and left the room with a grimacing smile.

  
  
Draco ran over to the bed and dropped down to his knees. His loving stare at his sleeping lover created pangs of confliction in his stomach as he stroked her cheek with regret.

  
  
He softly kissed her ice cold lips and whispered,

  
  
"Hermione, if you can hear me please fight his control and listen to these instructions carefully. We can get rid of him once and for all but you need head to the East Wing again. You need to look beyond the emptiness. It's all a cover..." 

  
  
Draco stopped and looked at the doorway as a shadow figure went past,

  
  
"Go to sleep, Draco as we have a big day ahead of us" his father ordered from the corridor.

  
  
Draco nervously climbed into bed and watched his peaceful lover sleep soundly.

  
  
Her twitching eyelids and clammy forehead made him fully aware that she was not having sweet dreams,

  
  
"Not too long now" he whispered as he wiped her brow and held her in his arms, before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  
  
The moonlight shone through a crack in the heavy velvet curtains as it stream a beam of white light onto the bed.

  
  
The manor was silent with only a faint sound of movement outside in the grounds as a scuffling, from in front of the bed, sliced through the eerie stillness.

  
  
Hermione's eyes flickered frenziedly as her finger tips followed the rapid movement, twitching up and down with purpose.

  
  
The scrapping sound got louder as Hermione's body started to respond to the increasing movement in front of her.

  
  
Ash dispersed from the fireplace like a gust of wind as the scuffling got louder and louder before a large gust of smoke blasted from the sooty pit and ejected something small onto the floor,

  
  
"Hermione Granger" a meek voice whispered.

  
  
There was no response,

  
  
"Hermione Granger must wake up. Dobby has important news and must tell Hermione Granger at once" the small elf pleaded as he dusted off his sack clothing and nervously shuffled towards the bed.

 

  
Dobby looked around before tapping Hermione on the shoulder with his oversized, wrinkled hand, in a bid to wake her up,

  
  
"Hermione Granger wake up please" he begged as he rocked her shoulder more vigorously, causing Draco to stir at the  motion.

  
  
Dobby stopped quickly and coward in the corner to avoid detection.

  
  
His bulging eyes firmly set on the stirring witch, secret willing her to wake up.

  
  
Hermione's hands began to twitch, 

  
  
"That's it Hermione Granger now open your eyes please" Dobby begged from his shadowy hiding place.

  
  
Hermione's arm twinged as it flew into the air. Her eyes shot open and revealed her natural chocolate brown irises,

  
  
"Who's there?" She growled as the shaky elf stepped out of the shadows with a nervous smile on his withered face.

  
  
Hermione glared at the frightened creature as happy memories of their shared past infected her mind, washing over her rigid limbs, breaking the Imperius Curse Voldemort cast on the unsuspecting witch,

  
  
"Dobby!" She screamed as the scared elf hushed his excited friend and quickly shut the bedroom door.

  
  
Draco rolled over as the pair stopped dead in their tracks,

  
  
"Hermione Granger needs to come with Dobby now as she is in grave danger" he whispered.

  
  
Hermione glanced over at her sleeping lover and held up a finger to the trembling elf,

  
  
"Give me one minute, Dobby" she mouthed as she carefully cupped Draco's head in her hands and kissed him.

  
  
Her soft caress hid the true intent to her passionate embrace,

  
  
"No, Hermione Granger" Dobby gasped.

  
  
The petrified elf backed away and stood against the sooty wall as he observed the possessed witch's actions with foreboding.

  
  
As she kissed her dozing lover, a thin veil of black smoke escaped her mouth and slithered down his throat as he choked in his sleep, unaware of the current infection,

  
  
"Shhh, we're OK now. He won't wake up until I take it out of him" she smiled as she jumped down off the bed and scooped the terrified elf in her arms.

  
  
Dobby examined Hermione's face as he regarded his old friend with caution.

  
  
He led her to the window and waved his arms in the air,

  
  
" _Alohomora_ " he commanded as a whisper of blue light pulsated from his hand and unlocked the large arch windows.

  
  
A gust of midnight air engulfed the room as the gentle breezed brushed past and rejuvenated Hermione's tired body,

  
  
"Dobby thought the room needed cleansing if Hermione Granger does not mind?" He commented as he lowered his gaze unsure whether or not the unstable witch would take offence to his biased guided 'help'.

  
  
Hermione put her head out the window and took a deep breath,

  
  
"That's fine, Dobby but why have you come back? You’re not safe here" she asked as the fresh air seemed to give the witch a certain amount of clarity.

  
  
Dobby beckoned Hermione down to his level as she sat on the floor, crossed legged in front of him and waited patiently for his explanation.

  
  
The anxious elf cupped the confused witch's hands in his own and looked her deep in the eye,

  
  
"When Hermione Granger sent Dobby through the tunnel, Dobby landed in Professor Trelawney classroom. Dobby saw Professor Trelawney looking into a tea cup and Dobby could see Professor Trelawney was shaking. Dobby saw Professor Trelawney run into Professor Dumbledore's office so Dobby followed" 

  
  
Hermione regarded him with intrigue,

 

  
"What did she see in the leaves? And what happened next?" She asked with reservation as she set her attention firmly on the storytelling elf.

  
  
Dobby looked to the side of him with a heavy heart.

  
  
He affectionately stroked his old friend's hand as a tear fell from his conflicted eyes,

  
  
"Professor Trelawney told Professor Dumbledore that she had foreseen a major battle and a girl must chose a side. Dobby then heard Professor Trelawney say once it has been decided this girl will rule the magical realm as she will be the most powerful being in the land"

  
  
Hermione glanced up at the full moon as she considered her new role in the magical world as the power hungry host awoke within her.

  
  
Her eyes hazed over with the black mist and she moved her hand away from Dobby as she looked at him with a thoughtful eager expression,

  
  
"Well what's the problem with that? I will be a fair ruler unless anyone undermines my policies. I am now looking forward to my future but there is one thing missing" she stated dryly.

  
  
Dobby wiped his eyes and regarded his new friend's dark demeanour with fear,

  
  
"You don't understand Hermione Granger. Should she choose the greater good - Hogwarts remains safe and in Professor Dumbledore's power but if she choose evil - Darkness will fall and there will be no going back" he whimpered.

  
  
Hermione thought carefully about the consequences,

  
  
"Dobby, my dear friend. It has never been about good or evil, it is all about power and who has the most and right now I hold the crown and anyone who gets in the way of my plans will fall - friend or enemy" she stated with absolution.

  
  
Dobby slowly backed away from the stern witch,

  
  
"You would kill your friends? You would kill Dumbledore?" He stammered as the shock of his old friend's transformation set in.

  
  
Hermione rose to her feet and started walking towards the door as Dobby ran in front to stop her,

  
  
"Please do not go. Hermione Granger is my friend and I won't let you have her" Dobby yelled as he held up his arms.

  
  
A piercing blue light shot from his shaky hands as he shuddered with fear,

  
  
" _Immobulus_ " he stammered.

  
  
Hermione laughed sarcastically at the scared elf's attempt to stop her.

  
  
She raised her hand effortlessly as she reflected the Immobulus charm as it hit Dobby in the chest and flung him across the room.

  
  
Hermione casually walked over to the frozen elf as she bent down and looked him in the eyes,

  
  
She stroked his ice cold cheek and chuckled at his frozen stated as she concluded,

  
  
"You all think I am taking over this innocent witch, when the truth is I can only infect those who seek the darkness. I don't care why she called out to me but I'm here now and I love the power this host is gaining! But enough of all this talk - on to find the Elder wand now and I know just where to start...onto the East wing! Bye Dobby!" 

  
  
Hermione turned away from her frozen friend with a gleeful smirk on her face and crept out the room, leaving Dobby to try to break the charm and get to Dumbledore quickly to warn him of Hermione's new deadly plans for Hogwarts and his life.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Glass Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione reaches the secret room and finds not all is as it seems...

** Chapter 7 – The Glass Box **

  
  
Hermione glided confidently down the dark corridor, ignoring the faint sounds of sporadic movement from the floor below her.

 

She pulled out her wand and quietly dragged it along the soot stained walls as she reached her final destination.

 

The small wooden door showed signs of Hermione's previous visit as the determined witch playfully tapped on the remaining piece of the melted handle, three times,

 

"Voldemort must enjoy hiding things from me but now it’s my turn to seek - Open sesame" she purred as the door creaked open and entered the empty gloomy space.

 

Stepping to one side, Hermione looked back as the door screeched shut and left the curious witch to carefully examine the empty room with a watchful eye.

 

She closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh breeze that filled the dank space from the small slit in the wall,

 

"Hmmm tricky! What is waiting for me behind this invisible veil?" she pondered.

 

There was no sign of life, furniture or evidence of what the room was used for - just an empty small space with the door providing the tight entrance and exit.

 

Hermione walked around the room, trying to find something that would stand out to her, to give her a sign of what the Dark Lord was hiding.

 

But there was nothing.

 

Growing frustrated at the lack of help, the impatient witch threw her arms into the air and shouted,

 

" _Homenum Revello_ "

 

The building began to vibrate with dust flying into the room from the groaning walls,

 

"Reveal yourself” Hermione shrieked in excitement as the room stirred and rumbled as it began to come to life.

 

A table emerged from the wall as the legs scraped along the floor to return to its original place.  Hermione jumped out of the way of the animated furniture and scrambled to the other side of the room, avoiding the flying items relocating themselves.

 

She cautiously wandered over to inspect the table top, picking up various unlabelled potion bottles and smelling the dubious content with fascination.

 

A rumbling thundered behind her, distracting her attention as she dropped the bottle and whipped her head around, ready to face whatever creature was waiting to attack her.

 

"What is that?" she gasped.

 

Standing there, dominating the middle of the room, stood a foggy glass box that filled most of the tiny space.

 

Hermione cautiously approached the misty box with intrigue.

 

A white mist swirled inside the glass cube and increased in density as the curious witch approached it.

 

Hermione walked around the large object to see if she could view a gap in the thick fog but the mist just developed as the frustrated witch got closer,

 

"What is in there?" she yelled as she banged on the glass for answers.

 

The box vibrated with the impact of her banging and the whirling mist stopped. It hovered, still hiding the content in the glass prison as the irritated witch placed her forehead on the glass and tapped on the glass again,

 

"Hello?" Hermione whispered.

 

The wind whistled through the eerily silent room as the curious witch cautiously walked around the box, searching for a weak spot to penetrate the mysterious object.

 

She stroked her hand on the smooth surface and tapped areas to test the thickness of the glass,

 

"Help!" a faint voice whimpered.

 

A small hand followed as it slapped the inside of the glass, making Hermione jump back in surprise.

 

The wrinkled palm slid down to the floor and disappeared back into the fog as Hermione's intrigue made her determined to find out more about the residence of the glass prison.

 

The inquisitive witch banged on the glass to try to break it but nothing could damage the tough exterior.

 

The moonlight bounced off the mirrored walls as it shone a fresh outlook onto the bleak situation,

 

"I know" Hermione muttered as she closed her eyes and rested both her hands on the cold glass box.

 

Her skin began to ripple with energy,

 

" _Reducto_ " she muttered.

 

A black smog escaped the powerful witch's hands and formed a thick layer of fog around the box.

 

Squeezing tighter, the black mist began to compress the glass cube like a snake paralysing its prey as the glass started to crack.

 

With the aid of the cool night air, the glass box pulsated uncontrollably, before shattering into dust particles as it rained to the floor.

 

The sparkling shower floated to the floor as it created a circle of glistening dust around a solid mass in the middle of the room.

 

Hermione approached it cautiously and put her hand out to prod the object.

 

Her finger connected with the cloaked item,

 

"You've finally found me" a weak, exhausted voice muttered.

 

The shocked witch walked around the huddled lump of fabric and knelt down.

 

The crumpled black cloak covered the subject as the curious witch carefully removed the thick fabric hood from the quivering prisoner and stepped back in surprise.

 

Her worn features gazed back at Hermione and the shocked witch was under no illusion that she had met this anxious prisoner before.

 

Her thin, long white hair hung over her face, hiding some of her sharp features as she attempted to stand up, now free of her constricting box.

 

Her tall, slim stature was revealed as both witches stared at each other in amazement,

 

"Monica?" Hermione gasped.

 

A warm smiled spread across the elderly woman's face.

 

The fresh air filled her musty lungs as her organs contracted with shock of the cool, refreshing wake up, leading the woman to break out into a fit of coughing.

 

Hermione stepped closer to the weak, unbalanced witch and guided her to rest on the table.

 

Using one hand to steady herself, she used the other to stroke Hermione's amazed face,

 

"You have your mother's eyes" she gushed as Hermione studied the woman’s features intently.

 

"Why did he trap you in the box, Monica?" Hermione asked quietly.

 

The elderly woman removed her hand from Hermione's cheek and steadied herself more firmly on the table,

 

"Grandma" Monica replied as her face expressed sadness at the question.

 

Hermione gave her a perplexed look, unsure if Voldemort had pushed her fragile mind too far in his interrogation.

 

The fragile woman held onto Hermione's hand and studied the confused witch's face in more detail,

 

"I would prefer you to call me Grandma before we continue" she replied sullenly.

 

A wave of emotion rippled through Hermione's shell-shocked body as she lunged forward and held, tight, onto the welcoming woman's waist,

 

"Did you send me back to your past, Grandma?" Hermione whispered, not wanting to upset the woman with anymore unintentional insults.

 

Monica stroked her granddaughter’s hair affectionately as she relished every second of the touching family reunion,

 

"I had no choice. I needed you to see what happened before your Grandfather got to you but I fear I was too late" she confessed as she stopped her sentence quickly and shot her head to the left of the room.

 

A faint sound of hurried footsteps distracted the pair. Hermione frantically looked around for another exit but there were none,

 

"Grandma, get behind me! I won't let him harm you again!" Hermione promised as she stood in front of the fragile woman and prepared herself for the fight.

 

Monica quickly did as she was told as Hermione turned quickly and held onto her Grandmother tightly,

 

"Close your eyes, Grandma and concentrate on Hogwarts" Hermione whispered.

 

The door swung open and Voldemort stood in the archway in astonishment,

 

"How did you find her? No one could break my Homenum Revelio charm" the Dark Lord bellowed as one of his followers launched into the room and tried to attack the pair.

 

Hermione flung her arms out towards the attacking Death Eater as a bolt of lightning blasted him in the chest and disintegrated the unsuspecting follower into ash,

 

"Do not underestimate me again" Hermione warned as she swirled her arms above her and created an icy forcefield,

 

"Remember Grandma, just concentrate on Hogwarts and don't open your eyes" she reminded.

 

Voldemort fired ammunition at the forcefield as he tried to dismantle it but it was too late.

 

Within a second, Hermione and Monica had disappeared into the night air without a trace to follow,

 

"Find them!" the Dark Lord screamed at one of his eager to please followers as the ice barrier came crashing down and washed away the ashes of the previous Death Eater.

 

Voldemort rushed to Draco's bedroom and menacingly gravitated over to the bed.

 

Observing the young Death Eater's unresponsive state, he opened Draco's mouth and put his wand on his lips.

 

The wand lured a muddy, black tar like substance from his body and into the tip of the summoning stick.

 

Draco coughed and choked as his lungs fought against the cool night air that attempted to cleanse his polluted organs,

 

"What happened?" he gasped, looking surprised at the Dark Lord's presence.

 

Draco frantically looked around the room for Hermione,

 

"She's not here. She's gone" Voldemort seethed,

 

"Gone where?" Draco nervously asked.

 

Voldemort pulled him out of bed by the scuff of his neck and held him in the air with ferocity,

 

"You only had one job, Draco and you couldn't even do that. She found Monica and has now escaped with her. You have destroyed the plan so what use are you to me now?" he growled.

 

Draco tried to get free, knowing that he was one step away from never seeing another sunrise again,

 

"I'm sorry but I thought she was under your control? I didn't know she broke your spell and did this to me. I can get her back. I can" he pleaded.

 

Voldemort released his grasp and Draco went tumbling to the floor. Regarding his follower with exasperation, he concluded,

 

"You have one more chance to prove your worth. She has probably taken her Dumbledore so you will need to intersect them and ensure you find out where Monica has hidden the Elder’s wand before Dumbledore does. Do this and you can come back to the manor. Fail – well it is not in your best interest to fail. Now go!”

 

Without hesitation, Draco vanished into the air in a swirl of black smog as he raced to Hogwarts to find his lover and save his own life before both of them became the Dark Lord’s number one enemies and are unable to fight back with Hermione’s increasingly erratic powers ravishing her transforming body.

 


	8. Chapter 8 – Home Is Where The Heart Is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Monica reach Hogwarts but get separated in the vortex. Monica finds help but is she going to help her granddaughter or try to stop her like the others?

** Chapter 8 – Home Is Where The Heart Is **

  
  
The vortex ragged and slammed the anxious pair around the alternating coloured, vapour walls before violently expelling them out onto a damp, grassy surface.

  
  
Smells of wet grass, mud and a sweet aroma woke the dizzy witch up as she wiped the sludge off the side of her face and attempted to sit upright.

  
  
Her balance was slightly comprised by the vicious landing which led Hermione to crash back down onto something hard and moist as she frantically searched around for Monica,

  
  
"Ugh, Pumpkins!" She griped, wiping away the mushy flesh from her soiled jacket.

  
  
The smashed orange vegetables littered the anxious witch's path as Hermione took off and flung her soggy jacket to one side and examined her new, breezy location.

  
  
A piercing screech echoed in the distance, alerting the baffled witch's senses to possible danger ahead.

  
  
Hermione stood up and tried to focus her sight, to approach the screaming creature, in the hope it would lead her to her missing grandmother.

  
  
The cautious witch negotiated her way through the thorny shrubbery as she stopped in her tracks,

  
  
"Buckbeak!" She gasped. Hermione looked past the bothered creature to see Hagrid's hut a few metres away.

  
  
Smoke swirled out of the unusually bent brick chimney as muttering and laughter quietly escaped the open window,

  
  
"She's in there" Hermione mouthed. The curious witch hid behind the Grounds keeper’s oversized prized pumpkin patch, focusing on Hagrid's suspicious feathered pet as she tried to come up with a plan to get around the agitated Hippogriff.

  
  
With her back to the Forbidden Forest, the desperate witch's attention got diverted to a large boulder at the entrance of the dark woods.

  
  
The shuffling and scratching was also heard by the eager pet as it rose to its feet and lifted its eagle head in the air, smelling the breeze for a hint of what could possibly be a tasty snack or damaging threat.

  
  
Hermione knew she was running out of time,

  
  
"Buckbeak, please be quiet!" She begged, wailing her arms in the air, gesturing the excited animal to calm down.

  
  
The creature struggled to get free from the chain around its neck as the metal crashed against the wooden pole constraining the frustrated animal to a small radius.

  
  
The clanking of the metal on the wood sounded throughout the grounds,

  
  
"Right! This has to work!" Hermione hoped. The careful witch looked behind her and cautiously followed the shuffling sounds, navigating her way down the muddy slope, trying to avoid sliding straight into the forest and into harm’s way.

  
  
The slippery, muddy hill took Hermione by surprise and her descend towards the unsuspecting hidden creature picked up speed.

  
  
Her legs struggled to remain grounded, slipping and sliding from one side to another as her arms flailed in the air, looking for something to grab onto to stop the speedy journey.

 

The large boulder grew in size as Hermione approached the large rock at speed,

 

“Arrrgh!” she screamed. The frenzied witch attempted to dig her heels into the sinking mud but it was too late.

 

The jagged rock stopped her rapid journey with a bang and all the frazzled witch could do was to pick herself off the damp floor and hope that no one heard her aimless wailing.

 

Dazed and confused, the dizzy witch stood up and felt her way around the large rocked, waiting for her blurred vision to become clearer again,

 

“Come on! No time for all this” she whispered to her senses, willing them to return to her. Shadows and eerie animal screeches, and song, taunted her impaired senses as her hazy sight tried to detect what was near by.

 

She felt her way around the rock and bent down slowly.

 

Resting her head back on the rough boulder, she smelt the air and closed her eyes.

 

Remaining still, Hermione relied on her other senses to help her find what she went down the hill for.

 

Her eyes twitched with delight,

 

“That’s it. A little closer. I can hear you” she breathed.

 

Keeping her movements static, Hermione slowly rotated her palms upwards, towards the cool night’s sky,

 

“Mine!” she snapped, releasing a bolt of ice from her determined hands.

 

Quickly opening her eyes, Hermione’s vision returned back to its original state, ready to see the prize in front of the smiling, smug witch.

 

Dusting off the soil from her jeans, Hermione approached the frozen object floating in the air in front of her.

 

Its razor sharp teeth glowed in the moonlight as its jaw was fixed open by the magic cast upon it. Fear radiated from its immobile eyes as Hermione slowly crept towards the petrified creature,

 

“I’m sorry but I need you more than the forest creatures will tonight so be good and it might be quick and painless” she said, grabbing the rigid polecat from its levitated position by its tail and returning back to the pumpkin patch, being careful to go unnoticed.

 

Hagrid’s hut was still animated with lively discussion as Hermione hid behind the giant vegetables,

 

“Buckbeak, look what I have for you?” she whispered, trying to get the flapping creature’s attention.

 

The Hippogriff kicked its hindquarter horse hooves into the dirt excitedly as Hermione crept closer to the enthusiastic animal and used the bait to calm the eager creature,

 

“Now sit!” She demanded, holding the frozen ferret just outside of Buckbeak’s reach. The hungry creature obliged the dominating witch and bent its head down as a sign of obedience.

 

Hermione carefully crept around the bowing animal as she hid beneath the hut window,

 

“Good boy, now Shhh” she mouthed. She threw the unyielding bait towards the craving Hippogriff and watched it swallow the helpless polecat whole.

 

Hermione used this opportunity to creep out of the satisfied animal’s sight as she slowly stepped onto some chopped wooden blocks and got closer to the window ledge for a better view of the important meeting taking place inside.

 

“I’m not sure what to do. He got to her before I could and now it is consuming her. I thought you were going to make sure that area was locked” Monica panicked. Hermione peered over the ledge and observed the tense gathering with confusion,

 

“Where is she now?” Dumbledore asked with concern. He put down his cup of brandy and went to Monica’s side. He rubbed her shoulders in solidarity and ushered her to continue.

 

The nervous grandmother took a shaky sip of her steaming tea and addressed the white haired wizard,

 

“I don’t know. After the portal spat me out into the pumpkin patch, your pet rolled me to your door and that’s all I can remember”

 

Hagrid nodded his head and sat down opposite the pair,

 

“That’s right. Good ol’ Buckbeak knocked the door with his beak and there she was, unconscious and lying on the bottom step. That reminds me I haven’t given the hero his treat” Hagrid jovially confirmed.

 

The giant Gamekeeper got up from the table and headed towards a tall wicker basket next to the door and lifted the lid.

 

Monica and Dumbledore stared at the cheerful giant as he dipped his large hand into the basket and pulled out a dead ferret,

 

“Just one will do” he smiled, holding the dead creature by the tail and headed to the door.

 

Hermione panicked from her hiding place and held her breath,

 

“Can you not do that later? We have important issues at hand” Dumbledore asked with urgency.

 

Monica’s shaky hand clinked the old china cup down onto the saucer as Dumbledore shot a look of worry to his friend,

 

“That’s right I can do it later. Maybe you should have something a little stronger, just to settle them nerves?” Hagrid proposed. Before Monica could oppose his offer, the friendly giant poured a large helping of brandy into her tea and watched her take a large gulp,

 

“So what next?” he asked the worried looking head master,

 

“Did she tell you what she wanted?” Hagrid asked the anxious woman.

 

She put her head down and took a deep sigh,

 

“I always knew what she wanted and was happy to give it to her but now she has this darkness inside her, I do not think she will be able to control the direction it will pull her in with that amount of power”.

 

Dumbledore slowly sat down beside her and regarded her with trepidation. Hagrid took a large gulp of his brandy, knowing what Monica was trying to say,

 

“What is she looking for, Monica?” Dumbledore whispered.

 

Monica slowly raised her head and regarded the pair with anguish,

 

“The Elder Wand” she replied. Dumbledore put his head in his hands and Hagrid’s mouth dropped open in shock,

 

“She cannot get the wand. If she does, we’re all doomed. She’s sided with the Dark Lord and with the wand, we’ll have no chance of defeating her” Hagrid panicked.

 

Dumbledore gestured him to be quiet as rustling outside the door distracted the serious conversation.

 

Hagrid crept to the door and flung it open,

 

“It’s just Buckbeak fussing. Let me give him his treat and be done with it” Hagrid shouted back as he left the pair inside the hut as he went to tend to the flapping pet.

 

Dumbledore brushed Monica’s straggly white hair from her hung face as he whispered in her ear,

 

“Where did you hide the wand, Monica?”

 

The scared woman looked around the room with fear,

 

“I trust you, Albus but after all I have been through all I can tell you is that her mother’s childhood is the key and I kept my protection around her until she was placed on God’s steps”

 

Dumbledore looked at her with a mixture of confusion and frustration,

 

“Please Monica. Without your help we are doomed” he begged.

 

It was no use. Monica raised her hand to stop the wizard from pressing her any further,

 

“She is my flesh and blood and I have faith she will do the right thing. She may not find it and we may be worrying for nothing but if she can control the entity inside her and if she was here, I would tell her to remember that the darkness cannot control memories and home is where the heart is” she replied. Monica gazed over to the window as Hagrid came back in,

 

“Right what have I missed?” he asked. The giant slammed himself back into his wooden chair and threw another log on the open fire,

 

“Monica cannot tell us where she hid the wand as she has faith in Hermione” Dumbledore replied dryly.

 

Hagrid put his hands on his head and looked at the drained woman in devastation,

 

“I hope your faith doesn’t kill us all” Hagrid expressed with exasperation, leaving the withered woman praying that her granddaughter can hear her pleas.

 

Hermione slumped down from the window ledge in bewilderment and sat on the wooden logs as she pondered her grandmother’s cryptic clue,

 

“Home? Memories? London!” she gasped. Hermione jumped down from the log pile and cautiously ran towards the Forbidden Forest, hiding behind the enormous pumpkins to avoid detection from the sleeping Hippogriff.

 

The rushing witch ran down the slope and stopped at the entrance of the forest,

 

“Who’s there?” she whispered. Rustling in the bushes, behind her, threw her from her pursuit to get home as the intruder slowly walked out from behind the thick shrubbery.

 

His tired, stressed pallid face told a thousand words as he brushed his shaggy red hair from his face and slowly approached the gobsmacked witch.

 

He held out his arms and cautiously scooped Hermione up and held her close to his firm chest,

 

“I know what happened and I forgive you but please let me help you with this” he pleaded. He rubbed the side of his head into the stunned witch’s hair as he inhaled the scent of her wind swept hair with nostalgia.

 

Hermione pulled away, uncomfortable at the sudden confrontation,

 

“Ron, what are you doing here? Please go back to Hogwarts and let me leave” she begged but he refused to let her go,

 

“Why did you leave us to go with him, Hermione?” a familiar, pained voice asked from the behind the couple,

 

“Harry?” Hermione seethed.

 

The moonlight bounced off the rims of his shiny glasses as he stood there, wounded, waiting for answers. Hermione regarded him with distain as she backed away further,

 

“Because she was sick of being treated like second best. She can see now that we are her family and we only have her best interests at heart” a voice echoed from the shadows of the forest entrance.

 

The trio jumped in surprise and turned to address the hidden prowler with apprehension.

 

Harry and Ron took their wands out of their pockets, ready to face the recognisable, provoking voice, leaving Hermione to step away from the pair, looking for any available exits.

 

The black cloaked subject stepped into the forest entrance, refusing to move any further into the opening. A grimacing smile radiated, darkly from his semi hidden reduced featured face as he beckoned the flustered witch to join his side.

 

The Dark Lord’s reason for Hermione’s sudden departure to join his side riled Ron as he lunged forward,

 

“Second best? She was my life! But you obviously appealed to that thing that is inside her. You probably put it there!” Ron screamed in anger. Harry struggled to hold his best friend back as Hermione watched on at the evolving events,

 

“Don’t listen to him. He is just trying to start a war. We both know what Hermione means to us and deep down so does she. We will get her back” Harry tried. Ron struggled to get free from Harry’s constraint without success. Voldemort continued to stand his ground as he mocked the angered husband from a distance,

 

“It’s too late now. She has already made her choice and it is not you. You were never strong enough for her. You were the extra weight that she needed to get rid of to flourish and look at her now” the Dark Lord sinisterly gushed. He pointed to the panicked witch and waved her over to him once more,

 

“Exactly! Look at her now! Look at what your poison has done to her. Hermione please come back to Hogwarts with me and let’s talk about this” Ron implored.

 

Hermione held her head in distress as swirls of black vapour seeped from her skin and surrounded her shivering body in a cocoon of dark smoke,

 

“I’m sorry, Ron” she mouthed. The thick smoke whirled round her shivering frame, covering every inch of the wavering witch’s body as she disappeared into the midnight air with a wave of her hand. 

 

Faint screams and yells, for the witch to return, followed Hermione’s escape, throwing her off her end destination. The exhausted witch tumbled into her attic with a thud as she rolled onto the wooden floor and toppled into a large hard object.

 

She stood up, rubbing her head as she observed her new gloomy surroundings,

 

“The attic?” she pondered curiously.

 

Hermione stood up and inspected the lofty space for anything that would give her any clue to her grandmother’s cryptic message.

 

Boxes were stacked, covering the surface of most of the walls and sentimental gifts and trinkets haunted Hermione’s memories, diverting her from the original plan.

 

She picked up a shiny object from the floor and slumped down onto a worn futon bed to examine it further.

 

The dusty surface caused the curious witch to cough as the musty smell defiled her nose as it created a speckled mist that glistened in the moonlight, beaming through the window.

 

Hermione held the shimmering object to her face and smiled as memories of how she obtained the pretty bracelet came flooding back to her,

 

“I was always rubbish at getting you presents but I had to get you something special for our one year anniversary. A special gift for a special wife” a voice confessed from the shadowy stairwell.

 

Hermione jumped up from the browning seat and dropped the charm bracelet in fright.

 

Emerging from the darkness, Ron walked into the middle of the space and regarded his wife with yearning,

 

“How did you know where I was?” she stammered.

 

Ron looked around the tightly filled room and waved his hands around the area,

 

“You cannot love someone as long as I have loved you and not know them inside and out” he stated.

 

Hermione examined the room for anything that could help her find the wand quicker as her husband’s persist nature was making her feel unfocussed,

 

“You do not know me inside out. How could you? I don’t even know myself anymore” she replied hastily as she tried to keep an eye on him as she walked around the room, flipping open boxes desperately.

 

She got to the chimney and put her hand up to the brick wall. The black vapour streamed from the palm of her hand and connected with the chimney breast as it groaned and tried to resist her powerful magic.

 

Ron stayed back, watching the bricks reluctantly spread open to reveal the hidden space,

 

“Where is it?” she screamed. She swung round and regarded her husband with fury.

 

Ron pointed down the stairs,

 

“In the bedroom. I thought there would be something in there to help me find you” he calmly replied. Hermione pushed past him and ran down the stairs, ignoring the cobwebs that flew into her face.

 

She burst into the bedroom and saw the trunk at the end of the bed as she dropped down to her knees and opened the lid.

 

Pictures, notes, robes and potion bottles flew around the room as she frenziedly searched for something that would help her get closer to the wand,

 

“There’s nothing here” she yelled with irritation as she took out the last item in the trunk and threw it to one side,

 

“A blanket and a basket? Great” Hermione shrieked. The annoyed witch slumped down next to the trunk, feeling deflated and beaten,

 

“This was the greatest day of my life and I cannot believe I cannot do anything to get back this happiness” Ron sadly stated. He picked up a silver photo frame from the floor, near the door, and walked over to Hermione. He sat down beside her and looked into her eyes,

 

“It was an amazing day but things are different now” she muttered as she looked at their wedding photo with angst.

 

Ron stood up and gestured his wife to join him. She reluctantly obliged as he made her look around the room, at their history on the floor,

 

“All it wants to do is use you for power. It doesn’t care about memories, happiness or love, just control and dominance. That is not you, Hermione. You are so much more than that and I’m sorry that I forgot that. I know that it wasn’t just this entity that made you go to Voldemort’s side. I know I got lost in myself and got consumed in my own world but I’m here to tell you that I’m sorry and need you back to make it up to you and help you through this. We’ve both made mistakes but why can’t we start afresh now?” Ron painfully confessed.

 

He gazed into his wife’s chocolate eyes, looking for a ray of hope as he slowly pulled her close into his frame and kissed her trembling lips.

 

Hermione examined all of their past spread across the floor, fighting to suppress the happy recollections of past moments and friends,

 

“Stop” she murmured. Ron ran his fingers through her hair as he kissed her harder, refusing to let his wife out of his arms again. Hermione nervously reciprocated his advances without resistance,

 

“I will never stop loving you” Ron breathed. He pressed his yearning lips harder onto his wife’s, opening her mouth to find her quivering tongue with his as he licked and wrapped it around her own playfully, whilst cupping her buttocks.

 

He pulled her closer into his firm frame, pressing his manhood between her legs as he rubbed onto his wife with intent.

 

Hermione got lost in the passionate moment as she flung her arms around his neck and jumped onto her amorous husband, wrapping her legs around his waist responding to his grinding motion below.

 

Ron ripped off his wife’s top and unhooked her bra as he flung her onto the bed, hungry to be with her again,

 

“I want my wife back, nothing else” he ordered, before pulling off Hermione’s jeans and knickers in one swoop, leaving him to admire his wife’s naked body on their tousled bedsheets.

 

Hermione smiled and opened her legs with longing as she beckoned Ron on top of her,

 

“No come here” he commanded firmly. He ripped off his shirt and threw it to one side,

 

“Now the trousers” Hermione directed as she pointed to the heavy jeans and gestured her craving husband to remove the denim barrier.

 

Ron did as asked, revealing the bulging snake, between his legs, staring at Hermione longingly. He grabbed his wife by the waist and held her against the wall.

 

She jumped up and wrapped her legs around him as he felt around her intimate area for a sign of welcoming.

 

The warm, moist response made the desiring husband smile with delight as he passionately kissed his wife before his stimulated snake thrust its way into her sensual, hospitable cave.

 

The immediate entry made Hermione groan in delight,

 

“Uh please don’t stop!” she gasped. Ron began to thrust back and forth, holding onto his wife’s waist to negotiate the depth he was able to push to as she grabbed onto her husband’s moist back with excitement.

 

Groaning with delight, Ron’s motion became faster and harder, reacting to his wife’s excitement for more,

 

“I will never stop, Hermione and I will never let you go again” he grunted in delight.

 

Hermione fervently kissed her husband in her need for more. Biting his neck and grabbing his bum as she rose and fell to coincide with his deep thrusting, Hermione grabbed onto his back and sunk her nails into her startled husband as he stumbled to the side in surprise, standing on something wooden and crushing it beneath his bare foot.

 

His fervent wife motioned him to continue,

 

“Don’t stop. I’m nearly there” she cried. Ron kicked the broken wood to one side and flung his wife onto the bed head first.

 

He grabbed her waist and pulled her to the end of the bed with lustful purpose.

 

He felt around her honey pot, to ensure it still had some sticky delights remaining in it, before raising clammy backside and entering her from behind one last time as she shrieked in delight.

 

He pounded his wife between her sticky legs quickly as he panted with ecstasy before reaching his climax.

 

Hermione screamed in euphoria, clenching her thighs tightly as he grabbed onto her buttocks and pounded her hard and deep for the last time.

 

He wiped the sweat from his brow and swept his hair from his clammy face, before collapsing onto his wife in exultation as she laid on the bed in elation,

 

“Thank you” Ron panted, kissing his wife on the cheek before slowly pulling out of her and rolling over onto his back, looking up at the ceiling with an exhilarated smile on his face.

 

Hermione rolled over and looked at him with confusion,

 

“Why are you thanking me?” she asked.

 

Ron rolled towards her and smiled at his glistening wife as he held her in his arms,

 

“I had you back again and no one else” he whispered. Hermione regarded her husband affectionately before suggesting they go to bed and reassess everything in the morning.

 

Ron agreed, not wanting to upset the tender moment and jumped into the rumpled sheets. Hermione rolled out of the bed and headed to the bathroom.

 

Trying to negotiate her way to the door, the blissful witch avoided most of the items sprawled on the floor before standing on something long and hard that rebounded off her foot and flew across the other side of the room.

 

Ron laughed at his wife’s clumsiness before his curiosity kicked in and went to see what object had made his wife jump on the spot in pain,

 

“Ouch! It banged against my toe. What is it?” Hermione wailed. Ron laughed at his wife’s exaggeration and bent to see what the item was.

 

He picked it up slowly and held it towards the stream of moonlight that glowed into the room through a crack in the curtains.

 

The fifteen inch engraved light brown stick shimmered in Ron’s hand as he gasped in amazement,

 

“Is this what I think it is?” he whispered, unable to take his eyes from the interesting looking staff.

 

Hermione stepped forward eagerly, knowing what the item was and ready to pounce on it,

 

“It’s the Elder Wand” she panted with excitement.

 

Ron examined his wife’s enthusiastic nature and stepped back, holding the wand closer to his chest,

 

“Hermione let’s think about this. You are not in your right mind to hold this wand, are you?” he expressed with concern. Hermione’s eyes flashed black as the dark vapour escaped her naked body again, engulfing her in a cocoon of electrified mist.

 

The possessed witch slowly walked towards her panicked husband, throwing blocking pieces of furniture out of her path with a flick of her hand,

 

“Give it to me, Ron” she demanded darkly.

 

Looking around the room, Ron realised he had limited options as he watched the entity control more of Hermione’s mind.

 

He put the two ends of the wand between his hands and gestured her to stop,

 

“I cannot give it to you so either you release my wife now or I will break it and you will have nothing” he stammered.

 

A deadly silence fell upon the room as Hermione stopped her journey and stood before her cowering husband as she stared at him through her lifeless eyes,

 

“Hermione?” Ron whispered, unsure of what to do next.

 

Remaining behind the other end of the bed, Ron refused to move as he kept a firm distance between himself and his wife,

 

“Hermione, speak to me?” He continued.

 

Without warning, Hermione rose into the air and smiled at her terrified husband one last time before the entity showed Ron who was in control of the situation by throwing the possessed witch from side to side, slamming her into the walls of the bedroom before releasing its grasp on her motionless body as she plummeted to the floor in a lifeless heap.

 

Ron jumped to his feet and scrambled from foot to foot, torn on what to do,

 

“Hermione?” he screamed as he regarded her unresponsive, exposed body on the floor lying in front of him as he crept over and stopped a few feet away from her.

 

He prodded her with the wand and jumped back in disbelief.


	9. Chapter 9 – Family Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voldemort is rubbing his hands with glee as the evil entity has nearly fully possessed Hermione, however, there are still a number of factors that threaten to foil his plan and one is that her greatest desire is not only getting her family back together...

** Chapter 9 – Family Ties **

  
  
Hermione's bloody bruised and battered body laid naked on the cool, cluttered floor, motionless and wrapped in a thin veil of black smoke.

  
  
The faint foggy cage began to disperse on each prod of the shaking wand,

  
  
"Hermione, please wake up" Ron cautiously pleaded as he crawled towards his wife and put the wand in his mouth for safe keeping. A feeling of dread swept over him but he continued and gently shook Hermione's wounded shoulders as he assessed the situation before picking her up in his arms and putting her on the bed.

  
  
He carefully wrapped her exposed body in the bedsheets and took the wand out of his mouth. For a moment the petrified husband stared at his wife with disbelief before his mind clicked back on the touch-and-go situation at hand and he started to perform CPR on the unresponsive witch.

  
  
The wand shimmered at the side of his unconscious wife, willing her to come back. He pressed harder on her chest with his large, sweaty palms and blew with more determination into her cold mouth,

  
  
"Wake up, Hermione!" He screamed into the silent night's air.

  
  
The wind started to increase outside, blowing open the iron gate and scraping the tree branches against the rattling window as the room began to tremble. Pictures and ornaments loosened from their position on the wallpapered walls, smashing them into pieces onto the littered floor,

  
  
"What's going on?" Ron shrieked as the bedroom door started to vibrate. The blood drained from his face with wild thoughts of what else he would possibly have to face. He flung himself over his wife and glared at the doorway with apprehension. A sharp bang ensued and blasted open the closed bedroom door, obstructing his vision with shards of splintered wood.

  
  
He puts his arms up, towards his face, to shield himself against the flying pieces of the door before stepping back with foreboding as a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway. The hidden intruder stepped into the tattered room without fear.

  
  
The moonlight bounced off his chiselled face as he took his hood down and regarded the red haired wizard with disdain,

  
  
"It's time to go" he stated, looking at the bed with underlying anger beaming from his piercing grey eyes.

  
  
Ron followed the stern trespasser's eye line,

  
  
"Hermione?" He gasped, looking at the empty space where his unconscious wife once laid.

  
  
The sinister intruder chuckled in delight,

  
  
"Did you really think she would choose you over me? Your nothing, Weasley and have always been a disgrace. With your hand-me-downs and terrible attempts at magic, she deserves so much more than you. That's why she came looking for me. Just stick with being Potter's side kick! At least your good at kissing his boots!" the pale haired trespasser mocked.

  
  
The anger raged through the taunted wizard as Ron jumped to his feet and lunged to the other side of the bed to get his wand,

  
  
"Ah-ah-ah, I wouldn't do that if I was you. I could kill you in half the time it would take you to get it but then again I might be doing the magical world a favour" he continued as he pointed his wand at the furious wizard, ensuring his aim was constantly on Ron.

  
  
He watched his wife stand next to the insulting wizard without emotion as the intruder summoned her to put some clothes on,

  
  
"Hermione, what are you doing? Draco doesn't care about you! He's just using you for the power that’s building inside. Don't you remember all his comments and the tricks he used to play on us? Don't you remember he was part of the war that killed most of our friends and Fred? He can't stand you and never could because he classed you as a dirty Mugblood. Don't you remember? Please remember!" Ron screamed, trying to jog some memory in his robotic wife's mind.

  
  
Draco laughed at the enraged red haired wizard's reasoning as Hermione put on the last pieces of clothing. She stood closer by Draco's side and held his hand in solidarity. The impassive witch regarded her husband with curiosity before moving her attention to the bed.

  
  
All three focused on the Elder Wand shining in the moonlight, with each one wondering who will get to it first.

  
  
Draco stroked Hermione's hair lovingly, riling up her husband further as he gestured her to get the wand,

  
  
"You can do it, Hermione" he whispered.

  
  
The tense atmosphere became unbearable as Ron couldn't take anymore. He dove forward and scrambled onto the bedsheets. Fighting to look for the important staff, he felt a sharp friction between his fingers as the stick flew from his grasp and into Hermione's welcoming palm.

  
  
Ron slumped down onto the floor in defeat,

  
  
"Just so you know before we leave, everything you said was correct but there's one thing you missed out - Hermione isn't a Mugblood! Her grandmother is a Veela and her grandfather is a wizard, therefore she is a half-blood which is a lot easier on the palette to deal with - especially knowing who her grandfather is. Didn't you know that? I guess you’re not as close and 'in love' as you thought" he sneered.

  
  
The pair walked towards the blasted doorway, leaving Ron to painfully absorb the new enlightening information. He jumped to his feet and ran towards the couple in despair before Draco stopped him going any further with his wand,

  
  
"Hermione you're part Veela? Why didn't you tell me? And does that mean what we had wasn't real? Did you have me under your spell? No, I know it was real. We love each other and I know deep down you know that" Ron cried.

  
  
Hermione slowly walked over to her grieving husband and put her hand to his cold cheek. Ron hung his head in agony as she brushed his hair away and sighed,

  
  
"My feelings were real and I did not know my mother was half Veela until I travelled to the past to meet my grandmother but I need more now. I need my real family back together again and he can help me with that. You cannot"

  
  
Ron grabbed onto his wife's shoulders in a last attempt to make her see sense. Hermione waved Draco to lower his wand as she took control over the situation,

  
  
"So you're only with him to get what you want? Let me help you get your family back together. We still love each other. If that’s what I need to do to keep you, then let me" Ron begged.

  
  
Hermione removed Ron's shaky hands from her stiff shoulders and looked down at the floor.

  
  
A breeze swept through the hallway, blowing some pieces of paper to her feet. Hermione bent down and picked up a crumpled piece,

  
  
"Can you help me with this?" She questioned coolly, handing the paper to her puzzled husband.

  
  
The front page from the 'Daily Prophet' newspaper made the blood drain from Ron's creamy complexion as he read the headline reluctantly,

  
  
"Hermione Granger wanted for questioning by the Ministry - Reward Offered for the alive witch"

  
  
Her animated picture reminded Ron of happier times as it showed a moving image of his wife dancing at their housewarming party. From the entertainment to the guests gushing over the happy couples public displays of affection - it was the perfect fresh start the couple needed.

  
  
Ron couldn't read on, transfixed on that happy day which seemed so far away now.

  
  
Hermione stepped back to join Draco, confidently waiting in the hallway,

  
  
"I can't take you with me, Ron. We've had some great years together but we both know that this last year has been tough and we are different people now. I am not using Draco to help me, I love him and he will help me find my grandfather but not out of obligation but because he loves me too. Please understand that and do not try to stop us" she stated firmly.

  
  
Draco grabbed hold of the reasoning witch's hand and led her out of hallway and down the stairs. Ron ran closely behind them pleading his wife not to go.

  
  
After his begging failed to bring any guilt to his rigid wife, anger began to take over the livid wizard,

  
  
"It all makes sense now!" He yelled to the unaffected couple,

  
  
"That's why you never had any female friends at school or work! We all thought it was because of your know-it-all personality but really it was because you couldn't use your Veela charms on them, isn't it? Just on unsuspecting suckers like me!" He continued to the non-responsive pair.

  
  
"Who else did you use your charm on, Hermione? Did Harry get to see your open spell book on one of your many study sessions for the O.W.Ls?" He spat.

  
  
Tears filled the infuriated wizard's eyes as he frantically wiped them away, unsuccessfully, realising his insults were falling on deaf ears,

  
  
"I will stop you, Hermione!" He finally screamed as the pair exited the front door.

  
  
She turned back and regarded her husband with pity,

  
  
"I'm sorry Ron but it’s for the best" she said. Hermione lifted her hand and pointed her palm at the devastated wizard,

  
  
" _Obliviate_ " she whispered. A thin stream of white mist floated from her hand and into the unsuspecting wizards head as she continued,

  
  
"You did not see me here. Instead you came to find me and found nothing so you stayed and went to sleep. In the morning when you wake up, you will contact Harry and tell him you think I have gone to Romania to get a dragon" Hermione stated, enforcing this new memory into her hypnotised husband's mind.

  
  
Ron stared into his wife's summoning eyes before disappearing upstairs to bed,

  
  
"Come on, we need to get to Gellert. It’s time for your grandfather to make his long awaited reappearance in the magical world" Draco demanded as he held on tight to his lover and gazed into her blackened eyes.

  
  
Hermione stroked his face with longing,

  
  
"It meant nothing. I realise that now -" she whispered. Draco brushed his lips onto Hermione's pink pout and forced a smile dryly at the confessing witch,

  
  
"Don't let it happen again" he warned. She shook her head and tried to give excuses for her actions. Draco held up his other hand in protest, stopping Hermione from continuing,

  
  
"You got the wand and that's all I care about for now. You need to remain posed and focused to use it otherwise we will never get your grandfather Grindelwald out of Azkaban but first we need to get Lord Voldemort and take it for a test run"

  
  
Hermione looked at him in confusion,

  
  
"A test run?" She questioned. Draco revealed a twisted smile and grabbed onto Hermione tight as he concluded,

  
  
"We're going to Hogwarts to get Monica back"

  
  
Before Hermione could question the decision, Draco engulfed her in his Death Eater black smoke and the pair varnished into the chilly evening air, leaving a faint trail of mist behind them.

 

  
The devious pair tumbled into the ground floor of the gloomy Astronomy Tower and proceeded to walk up the weak, winding wooden stairs, following the faint sounds of heated conversations above them,

  
  
"Lord Voldemort is already here" Draco enthusiastically whispered as the pair got closer to the top.

  
  
Negotiating their way through the sloping wooden beams and iron bars, that helped the structure remain upright, Draco and Hermione carefully approached the heated discussion with curiosity,

  
  
"Ahhh Draco, Hermione, so glad you could make it" the Dark Lord deviously welcomed. He waved them over to his side, gesturing the other six Death Eaters to move back.

  
  
Monica turned to run to her granddaughter but Dumbledore grabbed her shoulder and gave her a look of foreboding.

  
  
His eyes focused on Hermione's hand and gasped in horror,

  
  
"The Elder Wand"

  
  
Voldemort grinned cunningly as he welcomed the detached witch to his side.

  
  
Monica beckoned Hermione to go to her,

  
  
"Hermione please give me the wand" Dumbledore asked, ensuring he kept a safe distance and Monica close to him.

  
  
Hermione coldly ignored his request and looked towards the stairwell as the group became distracted by the sound of advancing running footsteps.

  
  
The footsteps came to an abrupt halt in the corner of the room as both parties held their breath, wondering if the newcomer was coming to help or hinder their side. Harry appeared from the shadows, holding his wand towards the Dark Lord with a venomous glare and Voldemort realised he had everyone he needed in the room to convince Hermione once and for all,

  
  
"Hermione your back" Harry tried. He cautiously walked over to Dumbledore's side as all three aimed they're wands at the Dark Lord and his followers.

  
  
The tension in the space became unbearable. Monica's desperate eyes, begged her granddaughter to fight the evil taking over inside her as Dumbledore held onto the hopeful woman's hand firmly,

  
  
"Hermione, please give me the wand. It is too powerful to be handled by an unexperienced witch. It needs to be destroyed so this does not happen again" he pleaded once more.

  
  
Hermione stepped forward from Voldemort and regarded Dumbledore with loathing,

  
  
"Inexperienced witch? I have more power in my little finger than you do in your whole body so please do not mock me with your insults" she spat.

  
  
A hush filled the room and Monica's mouth dropped open in surprise at her granddaughter’s venomous response,

  
  
"Hermione please listen to him. I know this isn't you talking. It’s taking you over very quickly and it’s on the verge of driving you insane like it did to your grandfather when he found it"

  
  
Hermione shrugged off Monica's concerns and pointed the wand at Dumbledore with more conviction.

  
  
Harry protectively jumped forward and stood in front of the head teacher, ignoring his requests to stay back,

  
  
"Ahhh the Golden Boy of the hour comes forward. What do you think you could do Harry? Wound me? Get the wand? Add to your hero list by killing me?" Hermione laughed as Monica cautiously stepped forward to help Harry and focused on the Dark Lord.

  
  
The elderly lady closed her eyes and began to sway as the dank space illuminated a blinding bright white light.

  
  
Hues of white and silver coated the moving woman, covering her frail, slightly hunched over body before completely engulfing her in a ball of radiating light,

  
  
"Monica!" Dumbledore yelled as he tried desperately to get into the shimmering ball.

  
  
His wand connected with the hypnotising forcefield, causing it to evaporate into thin air, leaving a bright shimmering outline around the new, younger Monica as she continued to sway and dance with a mesmerising motion in front of the bemused Dark Lord.

  
  
Her pale, wrinkled skin disappeared and made way for a smoother, supple, creamy complexion that glowed in the shadowy room as her long, straight, vibrant blonde hair bounced against her winding hips, ensnaring the men in the space into her alluring spell.

  
  
The Death Eaters crept forward, spellbound by her enchanting movements. Voldemort shot of look of annoyance at his followers and bellowed,

  
  
"Enough of this ridiculous charade. Do you really think this immature dance will have me in your hands? You'll need to try harder, Dumbledore"

  
  
Monica moved closer to the advancing Death Eaters as they followed her swaying motion with hypnotic fascination before the Dark Lord aimed his wand at the transfixing woman and shot a sharp bolt of green fire at her new whirling white cage.

  
  
The green flames penetrated the swirling barrier and disintegrated it within seconds, leaving the Death Eaters shaking their heads with confusion over how close they now were to the elderly woman.

  
  
Voldemort stepped behind Hermione and softly moved the hair away from her ear. His freezing cold breath gave the cool witch goose bumps and sent a welcoming chill down the side of her body,

  
  
"They don't think your strong enough to have the wand, Hermione" he provoked.

  
  
Dumbledore tried to read the Dark Lord thin lips but struggled to understand what his next move was,

  
  
"Do you think he would feel the same if Harry had it?" Voldemort continued darkly.

  
  
Hermione twitched with ferocity. His cold breath and words snaked into her ears and infected her thoughts further, leaving her helpless to fight the two dark forces pushing for retribution,

  
  
"He is just using you to get the wand, Hermione!" Harry yelled.

  
  
Struggling with both parties pulling her in different directions, the dark force resumed its hold and proceeded to protect the witch in its black foggy barrier.

  
  
Voldemort stepped back, fully aware the red electrical static crackling around the misty dome would give him more than just a sharp shock.

  
  
The Dark Lord cautiously walked around the charged gassy sphere and stood in front of the enveloped witch.

  
  
He curiously put his hand just above the reacting dome and flung his head back in ecstasy,

  
  
"The power you have now is amazing! We could do so much together, Hermione!" He purred.

  
  
Footsteps slowly sounded at the back of the hidden witch as the Dark Lord beckoned the hidden follower forward.

  
  
The barrier decreased in density, allowing the possessed witch a clear view of Voldemort's familiar ally.

  
  
There he stood, gazing into Hermione's blackened eyes, slightly nervous and unsure if there was any of his lover left in the cursed shell.

  
  
He stepped forward and hesitantly touched the sparking barrier with his trembling hand. A bead of sweat dropped from his brow as both groups watched on with fear,

  
  
"They want to control you, Hermione but with us you are free. The wand is yours but why destroy it? You can do amazing things with it but why not let us help you? Remember we are your family now and will never leave you" he whispered, much to Harry’s annoyance.

  
  
Hermione looked around the room in confusion as the petrified faces stared back at her. Her mind raced with conflicting thoughts before the torn witch gradually let down her guard and flung herself forward into Draco's welcoming arms.

  
  
Harry looked away in disgust but Dumbledore knew he couldn't wait another second as it was clear which side Hermione had now chosen.

  
  
He dove forward and fired his wand at Hermione's hand in a bid to disarm her and get her away from the alluring power of the Elder wand.

  
  
The loving embrace divided and Voldemort jumped behind the shocked witch, watching his plan unravel perfectly,

  
  
"You see Hermione! He doesn't care about you, just the wand! Show him your power! Show him it is the last time he should underestimate you! Show him you are the one who is really in charge!" The Dark Lord bellowed with excitement.

  
  
The man, she once admired, stood before her, waiting to see what the erratic witch would do in retaliation, hoping there was still a hint of the woman he once knew and helped him many times in the past.

  
  
Flashes of speaking to her parents about her bright future in magic and conversations about her hopes to go on to work in the Ministry stabbed in his mind as he watched Hermione slowly lift the wand again.

  
  
The pointed tip glimmered in the cloudy moonlight as time slowed down to a crawling pace.

  
  
Dumbledore looked around in a last ditch effort to stop the powerful witch but he knew this was it.

  
  
Hermione pointed the powerful staff at the head teacher and looked back at the Dark Lord,

  
  
"Do it! Make him an example! Show the others the new, powerful, Hermione!" He screamed.

  
  
His voice ripped around her tainted mind,

  
  
"Don't do it, Hermione!" Harry shrieked but it was too late.

  
  
Hermione flung her hand into the air and waved it around, creating a lasso of black fire that raged above them.

  
  
She aimed the fiery wand towards Dumbledore and commanded the fire to wrap itself around the surrendering wizard neck.

  
  
Voldemort clapped with glee as the skin on Dumbledore's quivering hands burnt and melted as he desperately attempted to remove the fiery choker from around his searing neck.

  
  
Smells of burning flesh and smoke floated around the room, creating a sea of dark smog, dividing the two groups,

  
  
"Hermione!" Monica screamed from behind the smoggy divide.

  
  
Harry appeared from the other side of the barrier and began to attack Hermione as Voldemort beckoned her to remain focused, summoning his followers to get Monica and destroy Harry Potter.

  
  
Harry's wand lashed and slapped Hermione's face and body with a scorching stream from his wand as Monica fought off the advancing Death Eaters.

  
  
Hermione remained darkly focused and unaffected, batting away Harry's attack as she pulled the wand backwards, tightening the grip on the shrieking head teachers neck before giving it one last whip back.

  
  
A blast of bright red light filled the room and shook through the crumbling tower, causing all parties to grab onto the windowsills to steady themselves on the subsiding floor.

  
  
Thunderous booming rippled around the disintegrating room as the choking fog dispersed, revealing a devastating sight,

  
  
"Professor!" Harry painfully yelled.

  
  
Lying on the floor in a pool of glistening blood was the decapitated body of Professor Dumbledore.

  
  
His severed head rolled to a stop in front of a hysterical Harry as the deceased wizard's long white hair and beard became stained with the crimson liquid it laid in a few metres away from his blood stained body.

  
  
A piercing silence fell upon the demolishing space before Monica let out an ear-splitting scream, breaking the deafening hush and reminding the others of the unstable state of the collapsing tower.

  
  
Hermione stood there, gazing blankly at the headless head teacher. Frozen to the spot with impassive expression on her worn face.

  
  
A freezing cold breeze sent the hairs on the back of her neck on end,

  
  
"He tried to kill you for the wand. You had no choice. Now come with me and let's get Gellart. Ok?" Voldemort whispered from behind the stunned witch.

  
  
Draco summoned the other Death Eaters to grab Monica from the floor as she fought off their efforts to spend a few more moments at Dumbledore's side.

  
  
She scooped up his headless body and held him in her arms,

  
  
"I am so sorry Albus. This was not how it was supposed to happen. If I could trade places with you I would" she cried hysterically.

  
  
Harry fought away the Death Eaters to give Monica a few more minutes to say goodbye,

  
  
"He did this. He planted the curse in that book and now I know exactly what I need to do. Goodbye my love and I will probably see you sooner than you think" she whimpered.

  
  
Harry blasted one of the advancing Death Eaters out of the window, leaving the others less confident to charge straight in to get the grieving woman,

  
  
"Don't go with them, Monica!" Harry yelled. The elderly lady stood up slowly and willing walked towards the grinning Dark Lord. She took one last look back at the beheaded wizard on the floor and wiped the tears from her weary eyes as she turned back to face her new fate,

  
  
"Don't worry, no harm will come to you now. We're one big, happy family now...or we will be shortly. Are you ready Draco?" Voldemort asked. He grabbed onto Monica's waist and held her close to him,

  
  
"Yes, my Lord" Draco replied as he held onto his frozen lovers hand and evaporated into thin air with the Dark Lord and the other followers.

  
  
Harry fired at Hermione but it was too late.

  
  
They vanished into the clear night sky, leaving him with the devastating truth lying in front of him and the knowledge of where they were going next,

  
  
"I will avenge your death, Professor if it's the last thing I do and when I finish they will all wish they were locked in Azkaban with Gellart" Harry whispered darkly.

  
  
He walked to the window and pointed his wand towards Hagrid's hut. A stream of white light shot from Harry's wand and into the distance.

  
  
Harry prayed Hagrid would see the bright stream as he refused to leave his mentor's body.

  
  
The floor became weaker as Harry jumped out of the way of an increasing crater in the middle of the floor. He grabbed the professor’s head and dropped to his knees.

  
  
Bricks and cement fell from above him as he used his wand to create a temporary barrier to shield them both from the dismantling interior.

  
  
Harry held Dumbledore's head and body in his arms and closed his eyes in mourning,

  
  
"Harry! What's going on? We need to get out of here!" A familiar voice shouted over the crashing of falling debris.

  
  
The shocked giant ran over to the crying wizard and stopped dead in his tracks.

  
  
He stepped forward and dropped to his knees in devastation,

  
  
"Albus?" He stuttered.

  
  
Harry lifted his head and uncovered the professor’s head from his jacket as he revealed the full extent of the numbing situation to the shaking grounds keeper.

  
  
Tears fell from Hagrids eyes without warning. He could not move his focus away from the bloody scene,

  
  
"We need to get out of here. Can you grab him and take him back to Hogwarts?" Harry asked coldly. He wiped his tears and gestured Hagrid to pick up the body.

  
  
Hagrid nodded slowly as they both ran down the fragile steps and out of the collapsing building as they watched it fall to a pile of rubble in front of them.

  
  
Harry walked off into the distance without warning as Hagrid ran after him in confusion,

  
  
"Harry, where are you going?" The sobbing giant asked,

  
  
"I'm going to finish this once and for all" He yelled. Harry continued stomping off into the distance as the giant ran and jumped in front of him.

  
  
He put Dumbledore's head and body down carefully and regarded the wrathful wizard with concern. He put his hand on the resistant man's shoulders and looked him in the eye,

  
  
"I know you want revenge and I will not stop you but you cannot do it alone. Come back to Hogwarts and get the army. They are ready and this is what they have been training for. Let's get rid of Voldemort once and for all" Hagrid tried.

  
  
Harry glanced at Dumbledore's body with guilt and nodded his head slowly before concluding,

  
  
"I want them both dead - Voldemort and Hermione"

  
  
Hagrid's mouth dropped opened as he cautiously followed the vengeful wizard back to Hogwarts unsure if the lines were now too blurred for Harry to rethink his merciless plan to avenge Dumbledore’s brutal death.


	10. Chapter 10 – The New Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group get to Azkaban, however the reunion is not all Hermione had planned as her completed family idea becomes short lived...

** Chapter 10 – The New Arrival **

  
  
"Why have we come to Azkaban?" Hermione asked in confusion.

  
  
Her baffled expression struggled to comprehend why they were not a few miles away at the illusive towering European fortress of Nurmengard where Gellert was last known to be.

  
  
Voldemort ignored the curious witch's question as he concentrated on landing outside the discerning prison without being detected. He walked around the solid circular tower walls, tapping at the large grey bricks with his wand as he tested the strength of the structure, ordering his followers to carefully explore the rugged grounds, looking for a weak spot to enter.

  
  
Hermione repeated her question as Voldemort regarded the inquisitive witch with irritation, not wanting to be distracted from his focus,

  
  
"You want your grandfather, don't you?" He replied firmly.

  
  
Hermione nodded sarcastically and continued with her inquiries, disregarding the Dark Lord's annoyance at her constant interruptions,

  
  
"I thought he was in Nurmengard? Why would he be here?" 

  
  
Draco pulled the brave witch back, knowing that his leader was growing more frustrated by the minute.

  
  
The nervous lover shook his head at Hermione, warning her to keep quiet so the Dark Lord could complete the delicate plan.

  
  
He could see Voldemort’s shoulder's tense up under his long dark cloak and had witnessed the merciless wrath of his leader when a follower had distracted his train of thought in the past.

  
  
Hermione ignored Draco's subtle gestures and, instead, gravitated towards her anxious grandmother.

  
  
The cool evening air rippled across the deep river that restricted any outside access to the remote building.

  
  
Shivering with fear and foreboding, the old woman's eyes beamed wild panic as she flinched away, reliving the recent flashback of the terrible killing of her old friend at the hands of her possessed granddaughter,

  
  
"Here have this" Hermione whispered. 

  
  
She took off the long cloak, she previously borrowed from Draco, wrapped it around the cautious woman and rubbed her shoulders to try and keep her warm.

  
  
Monica observed her new, intimidating surroundings with fear and remained focused on the determined Dark Lord as he stroked the grey brick wall, with a sinister grin, remembering his last encounter with Gellert.

  
  
Flashbacks of invading Nurmengard and kidnapping Gellert, as he forced him to go on the hunt to find the missing Elder Wand, excited his memory banks, giving him more purpose to get him out to help him with the next stage of his plan,

  
  
"He was in Nurmengard but I needed his help to find the wand so I broke him out.  Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough and the Ministry found us so I had to leave him.  He had served his purpose so I no longer had any use for him" the Dark Lord casually explained as he hit a sweet spot in the wall and stepped back.

  
  
He waved his wand in the air and threw it towards the desired patch with enthusiasm. Hermione stepped forward and joined his side, creating a nervous hush amongst the ranks. 

  
  
Voldemort observed the brave witch's position and slightly lowered his wand as he tried to control his underlying fury, knowing Hermione held all the power and needed to be kept happy until he completed his plan. 

  
  
The undaunted witch held her ground and concentrated on the wall's weak spot, aware the Dark Lord's piercing eyes were watching her every move,

  
  
"So why put him here instead of back in Nurmengard? And since your sole purpose of breaking him out was to find the wand, why do you want to free him now? You have found the wand. I have it, see, so why now?" Hermione quizzed, tapping the powerful staff on the side of her leg to solidify her point.

  
  
The visible sight of the Elder Wand, radiating in the moonlight, created an alluring pull which caught everyone's attention. Voldemort's frustrated expression faded as he became hypnotised by the supreme scepter.

  
  
The wide sleeve from his black, imposing cloak quivered with delight, exposing the Dark Lord withered grey hand as it slowly reached out for the enticing staff,

  
  
"Well, they couldn't put him back in the fortress he built, he knows every part of the building and could escape again" he mumbled, slightly distracted by the lure of the wand.

  
  
His quivering fingers unconsciously leaned in with yearning for the seductive rod before Hermione whipped her hand back and pressed the distracting stick into her leg.

  
  
A gasp echoed around the circle as the crowd watched the impassive witch pressed the staff harder into her leg. Her tight fitting jeans welcomed the supreme stick by absorbing the hard baton into the tough fabric and into her inviting thigh as it vanished out of sight and into Hermione's evolving body.

  
  
Draco cautiously stepped forward and inspected his lover in astonishment,

  
  
"Hermione, where-is-the-wand?" He stuttered, walking around the nonchalant witch, trying to see how she did the disappearing trick.

  
  
Hermione smirked at their surprise,

  
  
"It's safe. But we're not, so let's hurry up and get Gellert so we can get out of here" she replied with authority.

  
  
Voldemort moved back, unsure what other tricks the impressive witch had been hiding as she pressed her hands against the wall and used her energy to blast a hole in the side.

  
  
The wild, vibrating static connection weaken the tower and it began to crumble,

  
  
"What are you doing?" Draco yelled. Large pieces of brick and rubble came crashing down from above, leaving the panicked group to frantically jump out of the way to avoid being crushed by the raining concrete debris.

  
  
Hermione looked at her trembling hands as she observed the swaying building in terror,

  
  
"I only meant to create a doorway! I don't understand what happened" she cried, baffled by the lack of control she had over the recent power surge.

  
  
The bellowing sound of the tumbling tower alerted the guards, making the Dark Lord round up the troupes to take immediate action,

  
  
"We've got to get him now!" Voldemort ordered as red and yellow lightning bolts lit the sky and obstructed into their path. 

  
  
The Dark Lord led the group into the prison courtyard, firing at advancing guards along the way.

 

Black hooded figures swooped into the enclosed area, aiming and blasting fireballs and electric nets in their direction, causing Voldemort to adjust his previously precise plan,

  
  
"Split up! Draco take the others and head that way. Hermione and Monica come with me!" he ordered, pointing to the east.

  
  
Draco glanced at Hermione as he reluctantly left her to go with Voldemort and disappeared through a fiery wall of ammo,

  
  
"Can you sense him?" Voldemort asked while returning fire against the attacking guards.

  
  
Hermione held onto Monica's hand and stroked her leg. She cleared her mind and focused on the image she saw in a picture on Dumbledore's desk when she was younger.

  
  
Stood proudly in front of a church in the centre of Godric's Hollow, a young Dumbledore and Grindelwald, with their arms around each other, smiled from ear to the ear as the picture cemented their conflicting friendship.

  
  
Hermione focused on that image and continued to rub her leg with determination. Her thigh glowed green with the friction as it softly beamed to a high spot in the tower ahead,

  
  
"That way" she said confidently.

  
  
Hermione shielded the cautious pair through the smoky courtyard and pointed to the top of the swaying tower ahead.

 

The blistering ammunition bounced off the witch and her two companions as she held her arms in the air and created an electric shimmering red protective barrier, covering the trio,

  
  
"Wait here!" Voldemort shouted as he prepared himself to scale the tall building for the prisoner.

  
  
He quickly evacuated the defensive shield as his long cloak violently flapped in the evening breeze before wrapping itself around the Dark Lord, vaporising his solid frame into a black gassy mass as he disappeared up the tower wall and vanished out of sight at the top.

  
  
Monica trembled in fear with the intensity of fire bouncing off the electrifying dome. She cowered down into a ball, leaving Hermione to see the true fear in her grandmother’s eyes. The torn witch couldn’t take anymore and closed her eyes,

  
  
"It'll be OK. I won't let any harm come to you anymore. I won't let anything break my family apart again" Hermione promised as she flung her head back and summoned all the energy in her body to radiate out of the static sphere.

 

The emotion faded from the witch’s pallid face as her skin crackled and split open, expelling a black gas into the swirling dome,

 

“Close your eyes and hold your breath” she whispered sternly.

 

Monica did not argue with the blackened eyed witch, instead opting to put her arms over her head and stay low, unsure what was to come.

 

The black mist escaped the protective barrier and snaked into the midnight sky, infecting the attacking guards, throwing them off their defensive assault on Hermione and her trembling grandmother.

 

The ambushed guards lost control of their broomsticks, and their bodies, as they violently thrashed from side to side before the murky smog started to slowly melt the insides of the screaming guard’s bodies, inflating the empting shells past natural capacity, allowing Hermione to view the floating human balloons above with slight humour,

 

“OK let me put you out of your misery now” the possessed witch muttered.

 

She opened her inordinately stretched mouth, which span the width of her splitting face, and welcomed the black mist back into her body. The smog absconded from the guards inflated body with urgency as it congregated in the air, ensuring all the gases morphed together before developing into a swarming, buzzing drone and returning to its host.

 

Hermione snapped her head back upright and screamed,

 

“ _Reducto”_

 

A deadly silence fell upon the courtyard as Monica hesitantly opened her eyes, unclear whether she had been deafened by the sounds of the close blasts or whether it was something more sinister.

Hermione bent down and picked up her shivering grandmother,

 

“You’re safe now” she confirmed proudly. The elated witch threw her arms into the air and twirled around in the empty courtyard, causing the elderly woman to squint her eyes as she glanced above to see something falling out of the sky.

 

The small black flakes coated the courtyard like snow,

 

“Is this what I think it is?” she stuttered.

 

Before Hermione could answer a gust of wind swept in behind her and the blood drained from the exhausted woman’s withered face.

 

The object of her distraction stood at the side of Voldemort, glaring at the shaken woman with a smirk on his wrinkled face,

 

“Monica, it’s been so long. You still look as beautiful as the day you left me” he croaked.

 

The slim man brushed his long wild white hair from his face and tried to smarten his appearance for the tense reunion as he turned his attention to Hermione and held out his shaky hand,

 

“You must be my granddaughter. I can see you have your grandmother’s eyes” he complimented.

 

The excited witch observed every aspect of the frail man before launching at him with her arms wide open,

 

“It’s complete” Hermione cried. Gellert returned her affection and squeezed her tight,

 

“And who is this?” Gellert questioned as Draco and Lucius swooped in and landed behind the emotional witch, regarding the reunion with curiosity.

 

Hermione broke away from her proud grandfather and joined Draco by his side.

 

She gestured her lover towards Gellert and enthusiastically introduced the pair,

 

“This is Draco, my partner. He is part of the family, grandpa” Hermione explained with eagerness.

 

Draco held out his shaky hand to the ex-prisoner and held his breath for the response.

 

His eyes exuded his wonderment of the well-known wizard as he tried to maintain his fascination with Gellert, without success.

 

There was a pause as the group gathered together and watched on as Gellert accepted the young wizard’s hand and shook it firmly,

 

“Welcome to the family, son. And what a family we are now. Such a power house. Indestructible” Gellert purred as he regarded Monica with a sinister grin.

 

Voldemort grew uneasy of the open space and morphed back into his gassy form,

 

“Lucius, take Hermione and Monica. I’ll take Gellert and Draco follow on with the others” he ordered without haste.

 

Hermione held onto her grandmother closely before she stared blankly at the optimistic witch and whispered,

  
  
"Do you really think Gellert cares about you or becoming a family? All he is bothered about is the wand and after his previously failed attempted he will be more determined to get it now. They will both try to get the wand from you"

 

The elderly woman caressed her granddaughters face in an attempt to find some type of reasoning within the possessed witch. Hermione tilted her face, accepting Monica's affectionate stroking before moving away, not wanting the happy moment to be tarnished.

 

The alluded witch glanced back at her golden haired lover as he returned her warm-hearted smile and looked up to the sky at her grandfather being led back to the manor by the Dark Lord and replied,

 

“This is all I have wanted for years. I can deal with any little problems like that when we get back to the manor but please let me have this moment of happiness. It has been so long since I have felt this complete”.

 

For the first time, Monica could see her granddaughter for who she really was – a lonely, lost woman who just wanted a family to belong to and could not continue her assault on the dangerous reunion,

 

“Ok, let’s go” she confirmed to Lucius as he wrapped his cloak around the hugging pair and bolted from the ground in his vaporised state.

 

Hermione looked down and saw the other prisoners escaping the collapsing building as more guards attempted to capture the fleeing convicts,

 

“Lucius, to the left” Gellert yelled enthusiastically.

 

The Death Eater clung on tight to his two important passengers as he fired at the swift guard, shooting at him down from his broomstick,

 

“Let me help” Hermione screamed through the whistling wind ripping past her face. Lucius nodded in agreement for the extra help,

 

“ _Reducto”_ she screamed, throwing her palm at another advancing guard and blasting him into ashes.

 

The explosion alerted more attention to their location as more guards came, firing lightning bolts at the disbanding group.

 

Lucius used Hermione’s help to slow down the defending group from following them any further as Voldemort continued on with his prized cargo, leaving the other’s to fight the increasing hordes,

 

“Over there” Lucius yelled to his son, alerting Draco to a creeping wizard on his tail.

 

The disorientated Death Eater swung round ready to fire at the stealth guard but it was too late.

 

The wizard hid behind the group of guards already attacking Hermione and the other Death Eater’s and was able to focus and lock his aim on the inexperienced Death Eater’s smoggy mass as he fired one shot into the centre of the dark mist.

 

The electrical charge blew straight through Draco’s misty exterior as he involuntary morphed back into his human form exposing the true nature of his injury,

 

“DRACO!” Hermione screamed as her lover held his chest and looked at his father with helplessness in his gawping eyes.

 

His limp body lost control as he fell from his position and descended to the ground, unable to continue the battle.

 

Hermione screamed and tried to get out of Lucius grasp but it was no use,

 

“Hermione, we have to go” Lucius cried but the distraught witch could not hear anything around her.

 

The wind whistled in her ears, silencing the commotion around her as a voice whispered,

 

“ _The wand”_

 

The teary witch pressed hard into her vaporised leg and swung the wand towards the ground, without a second thought,

 

“Save him” she screamed into the air as the Elder Wand fired a piercing white stream through the cloudy night sky.

 

A rumbling echoed around them, causing the war to come to an immediate halt and the guards to retreat slightly,

 

“What have you done?” Monica cried at the ear-piercing, bellowing sound.

 

Hermione clutched onto her grandmother more firmly, unsure what the wand had understood from her vague request as a bright spark of light from the side distracted her attention and sent a piercing ripping sensation down her spine.

 

Shrieks from those around her, deafened her ears as her vision became blurred and her limbs began to give way.

 

Her arms fell to the side as her mind frantically tried to apprehend what happened,

 

“Lightning! Hit! Falling” a familiar voice screamed from beside her.

 

The wind knocked the air from the descending witch as everything went black and she fell into the darkness – alone, helpless and unsure whether she was still the owner of the Elder Wand.


End file.
